David R. Brinkley, Maryland State Senator.

Several local politicians attended the Mt. Airy Town Council meeting to discuss issues of interest to local residents.

Maryland State Senator David Brinkley, R-4th District, was present and said he loves to visit the town of Mt. Airy.

Sen. Brinkley, who is also a member of the state's Budget and Tax Commission, said he is part of the team looking into the use of highway revenues. The revenues go into the transportation trust fund, which he also helps oversee.

"The bulk of those revenues," he said, "come from the gas tax."

Carroll County is unique in that it shares the state's tax burden for four separate rail systems: MARC, METRO, the Baltimore subway and Baltimore Light Rail. Yet the county residents have no direct access to any of these systems, unlike neighboring counties.

"Some of our residents are okay with the gas tax," said Brinkley, "if they know they can be dedicated to roads [and not just rail systems]."

He feels most people don't believe this will happen. What he thinkss would be ideal is to move some of the funds for the rail systems out of the transportation trust fund altogether into a separate pool of money. This would lead to a more balanced perspective on how the money is shared between roads and rail.

The last major road to be installed in Carroll County was Rt. 140, in Westminster, which was 45-50 years ago. The next project is set to be a bypass on the Rt. 32 interchange, which is currently clogged with commuters daily. That project will cost upwards of $200 million but will not directly benefit Mt. Airy citizens.

"We have 12 or 13 municipalities within the 4th District," Brinkley said, "but no major cities."

He feels when you are dealing with small municipalities like this, people are more involved at the local level and are more vocal about the community's needs. One of the issues on which the 4th District was most vocal was in the construction of new schools. Of the $15 million budgeted to school construction this year, "40% went to Frederick and Carroll counties."

Regarding the use of the school funds, he said he felt this isn't an area in which all-day kindergarten is as important as Title 1 spending for underprivileged children.

In his final order of business, Brinkley discussed what it means for an area to be declared a historic district. Brinkley serves on the historic district task force in Annapolis. He said the program is in danger of ending June 1, 2004, unless steps are taken.

Part of what the designation means is a 20 percent tax credit to the owner of a dwelling on which $100,000 is spent in historical renovations. This can be distributed in several ways including a pro-rated credit over a period of time. The owner assumes the risk of doing the renovations prior to applying for the tax credit.

The tax credit does not hurt the state's budget at all, Brinkley pointed out. "For every dollar we issue in historical tax credits, the state gains $6-$7 in sales and use taxes and tax assessments on the increased value of the property."

Brinkley said certain leaders in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties would love to see the program scrapped.

Maryland State Delegate Donald Elliott, District 4B, said with an $800 million deficit, Maryland Governor Robert Erlich's proposal to introduce slot machines at Maryland racetracks would have been a boon for the state. He said if partisan politics were not at work, the proposal would have had more support. By shooting down the proposal, the Maryland General Assembly has essentially cut off a source of over $700 million in annual revenue.

Elliott, a Republican, believes it is the latest example of partisan politics. "In my 18 years of experience, I have never seen such partisanship as I've seen in the last year," Elliott said. With the budget deficit mounting, he added, "There seems to be no other resolution [than the slots]."

Maryland residents, Elliott said, are already paying too much in taxes. In regards to highway funding, he said, "Let us not go the way of the gas tax."

A gas tax would require an additional 10 cents per gallon just to raise $300 million and would unfairly penalize the working poor, who need to be able to get to work and can't afford the increase.

A better option, according to Elliott, would be to raise the sales tax one half of one percent.

Elliott also weighed in on a sensitive issue with some Maryland residents - that of health insurance. He said there are some 690,000 individuals in the state who are uninsured. Of those, 38 percent of families with a household income of more than $55,000 do not participate in employer-sponsored health plans.

"If we do nothing else this year," Elliott said, "we have to address this issue of people who can afford [health insurance] and don't get it."

Health insurance is critical for a person who experiences a catastrophic event, such as a traffic accident, he said. His own son spent a few days in a shock-trauma unit during which the bills amounted to over $30,000. When someone cannot pay such an exorbitant medical bill, the costs fall back to the hospital, the doctors and ultimately the taxpayers.

Frederick County Commissioner Mike Cady talked about the issue of solid waste in the area. He said at the current rate of dumping the landfill would be full by 2008. Investigations are underway to select a new location for a solid waste transfer station, which would add another 25 to 30 years of life to the landfill.

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