A Tax Hike in Your Future

Mayor Martin O'Malley will lead us to a tax hike if today's story is any indication:

Mayor Martin O'Malley pledged today to spend at least $250 million a year on statewide school construction if he is elected governor and said he would issue additional bond debt if necessary to pay for it...

...O'Malley, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to oppose Ehrlich in 2006, said current budget surpluses would likely be sufficient to fund the proposal over the next few years but that he would be willing to take advantage of the low-interest rates afforded to Maryland because of its exemplary credit rating and borrow money if necessary to keep pace with construction needs.

"If we have a AAA bond rating and we have triple rows of trailers, what does that say about our willingness to invest in our future?" O'Malley said. "This has to be a state priority, and there have to be long-term state commitments."

It is true, we do have a AAA bond rating. But when you are spending money on capital projects, the money will come from one of three sources: a budget surplus, bonds, or tax hikes. The problem is that whenever those options are presented to Maryland Democratic leaders, they nearly always select the tax hike unless it is an election year, such as O'Malley using city surplus funds for city school construction priorities this year. School construction is important, and it is important to the current administration as well. Governor Ehrlich had to deal with the fiscal mess the Glendening administration left behind, and they dealt with it appropriately. I am glad that two of the major candidates are talking school construction. But it is highly disingenuous for Mayor O'Malley to talk about floating bonds for school construction when past experience tells us he and Democratic legislative leadership would call for tax hikes first; they always do.