Rain TAX? Why would that be a good idea?

     You may have heard about, or even had to already pay the new Anne Arundel County "Rain Tax".  Why would we ever want to pay more taxes?  Here is why it is important....

     In 2010, the State of Maryland was required to submit a plan to the EPA for reduction of pollutants in their associated watersheds.  The State gave some broad goals, and then turned to the  individual counties to develop specific remediation plans for their areas.  Anne Arundel County's plan was threefold- 1) Upgrade wastewater treatment plants, 2)Upgrade the County's 20,000+ septic systems, and 3) reduce pollution from urban stormwater.  The plan to improve the stormwater, expanded the existing State mandate to create dedicated revenue to fund local stormwater restoration.   In 2013, the County Council approve legislation to create "a dedicated Watershed Protection and Restoration Special Revenue Fund (WPRF) as well as a stormwater remediation fee levied on impervious surfaces throughout the county to finance stormwater restoration work."   This watershed restoration program became known by its critics as the "Rain Tax".

      But why, you ask, did the State of Maryland mandate all of this in the first place?  According to Watershed Protection and Restoration Program's Fiscal Year 2104 report, since the 17th century " the land has been used intensively and continuously, shifting from a largely forested landscape to one that was heavily agricultural and cleared, then to the blend of urban, suburban, and rural uses that we
see today.The current health of our local waterways– very poor, by almost any metric – is a product of more than 350 years of intensive land use and an insufficient recognition that the clearing of the landscape, much of which was accomplished by the mid-18th century, followed by increasingly intensive development over the course of the past 50 years has left our rivers with a broken
network of streams and creeks."  This broken network directly affects the heath of the Chesapeake Bay and is a leading contributor to the excess nutrients and and sediment that is causing such an ecological problem.

     So do any of us want to pay more tax? Of course not, but know that your payment of this tax goes directly into a dedicated protected fund that will help improve the health of our local streams, which will in turn eventually improve the health of the bay.  As we move into the future, please consider being an advocate for the health of our watershed.  I will share more in a future post about the steps you can take to make a difference locally, and some eye opening facts about where your stormwater really goes.  Remember that every drop of water that crosses your property has the potential to negatively affect the Chesapeake Bay.  Take action to be a steward of your environment.


Watershed Protection and Restoration Program FY 14 Report

WPRP FAQ