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David R. Brinkley, Maryland State Delegate.

Source URL: http://www.mdhousegop.org/News/News.cfm?ID=225&c=1

House votes to raise fees for fire services

Delegate Brinkley opposed legislation to increase a surcharge on Maryland's vehicle registration by $3.

ANNAPOLIS - As the House voted Friday to increase a surcharge on the state's vehicle registration fee by $3 to support fire and ambulance companies in Maryland, most local delegates opposed the move because they think it's an unnecessary tax.

The proposed increase now heads to the Senate for approval. 

Volunteer fire and ambulance companies from Carroll and around the state have been lobbying members of the legislature in writing and in person this year. But Republican Carroll Dels. Joseph M. Getty, Carmen Amedori and Nancy R. Stocksdale voted against the increase Friday. 

They said it's a tax people shouldn't have to pay just because Gov. Parris N. Glendening didn't put enough money for emergency services in his proposed $21.3 billion operating budget. 

The House voted 112-25 to approve the increase. But local delegates had the vocal support of some of their neighboring colleagues. Del. David R. Brinkley, R-Frederick, told members of the House that the people are now being asked to pay for what Glendening did not. 

"I do feel that we are being asked to bail him out," Brinkley said. 

There is an $8 per-vehicle surcharge added to the fee when people register their cars now. That surcharge goes toward the Maryland Emergency Operations Fund, which helps support firefighter training, Medevac helicopter operations, loans for local fire companies and other programs. The state started the fund in 1992 and the fee hasn't been increased since. 

While Stocksdale, Getty and Amedori questioned the need for the increase, Del. Donald B. Elliott, R-Carroll/Frederick, said he thinks raising the fee is the only way to go in helping local emergency companies that need more money. 

Without increasing the surcharge to $11, the state firemen's association said Carroll County firemen could lose $70,625 because of other cuts. Carroll County got $252,235 from the state account this fiscal year, he said, and it would get $70,625 less than that if the state doesn't raise the fee. 

State analysts estimate the fee increase could generate between $13.1 million and $13.5 million annually across the state over the next five years. For fiscal year 2002, which begins in July, that would mean $13,056,400 in additional emergency services money across the state. 

Elliott said he doesn't think increasing the vehicle registration fee by three dollars isn't that big of a deal for car owners. And unlike hoping for money in the governor's budget, he said it's money that will definitely be there. 

"It's more of a dependable source," he said. "I guess I'll just have to take a hit for being different from my colleagues."

Authority: Friends of David R. Brinkley - Sallie M. Brinkley, Treasurer

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