Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.metro From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Tax limit rejection is clear Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 11:28:29 EST Message-ID: \SE B;METROPOLITAN \HD Tax limit rejection is clear \SH Voters opposed stiff restrictions \BY Arlo Wagner and Jim Keary \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Voter rejection of Prince George's and Montgomery county tax limits Tuesday were votes against stiff restrictions on local taxes, not against thrift in government, both sides say. "No one should be concerned that the County Council misread the election," said Montgomery County Council President Bruce Adams. "No one [on the council] is going to think it's back to business as usual. We're going to work hard to make the resources fit within government." Montgomery County voters turned down Question A by 60 percent to 40 percent. The measure would have forced the County Council to reduce property taxes to offset any increase in the local income tax that pushed it above 50 percent of the state income tax. Prince George's County voters, by a 56-44-percent margin, turned down Question D, which would have limited increases in county property tax collections to no more than 5 percent a year. Robin Ficker, who led the fight for Question A, said the vote showed that people want "flexibility" rather than severe restrictions on the way their governments tax and spend. But he warned that voters will watch how government officials spend tax dollars until they come up for re-election in 1994. Both measures faced stiff opposition from coalitions of elected officials and government unions, who fueled a radio and television advertising blitz in the last week of the campaign with "hundreds of thousands of dollars," according to Mr. Ficker. The ads - which showed a woman worrying about crime and police warning that service would be hurt by budget caps - were sponsored by Citizens Against Restricting Essential Services. That group, which also battled tax caps in Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, got $210,000 from the Maryland State Teachers Association. "It would be fair to say we cooperated with coalitions in those counties and we played a fairly significant role in those campaigns," said MSTA Executive Director Michael Butera. He added that it "would be fair to say we contributed substantial dollars" to the Montgomery County Education Association and the Prince George's County Education Association. Local police and firefighters unions said they also contributed to the campaign against the tax caps, but figures were not available last night. The Montgomery County teachers union exhorted members to campaign against the Ficker amendment, saying passage of Question A "would mean a certain cut of $25 million in the school budget and kill any chance of getting any cost-of-living increase." Montgomery County teachers have not received cost-of-living raises in two years, although most school and county employees received step or incremental increases averaging about 3 percent. Teachers union leaders also led in forming Citizens for Montgomery's Future, which was launched with fanfare in front of a Rockville school despite Mr. Ficker's protests that it was an illegal and improper use of school facilities. Mr. Adams, that group's co-chairman, said it spent about $16,000 that was collected from more than 300 contributors, including council member Isiah "Ike" Leggett, who gave $75, and Gene Lynch, an aide to County Executive Neal Potter, who gave $500. In Prince George's County, opponents of Question D said they concentrated their ads on inner-Beltway communities in the new 4th Congressional District. It appeared to pay off: Only about 35 percent of the 4th District voters supported the tax cap, compared to 52 percent in other parts of the county. Judy Robinson, who led the fight for Question D, said she did not expect it to do well inside the Beltway. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM