Montgomery County Considering Three Dollar or More Monthly Tax on Cell Phone Users
Montgomery County Wireless Consumers ‘Say No’ to increased telephone taxes!
Wireless allows you to stay connected with family and friends, to do business on the go, or to get help in emergencies. All residents in Montgomery County, MD, benefit from a host of choices among features, phones and plans, when it comes to picking their wireless service of choice. So, why are Montgomery County leaders again considering piling another costly telephone tax increase on your wireless service?
Montgomery County’s proposed budget for 2011 would increase the already excessive tax on cell phone consumers from $2 to $3 per line per month, on wireless only - a whopping 22.6% municipal tax hike on all Montgomery County families and small businesses. The tax is expected to cost phone users an additional $11.853 Million in FY2011. However, three dollars is a starting point, because some County Council Members want to raise the tax up to six dollars per-line, per-month. This proposal would make Montgomery County wireless users, already one of the highest-taxed in the country, pay even more.
The state sales tax in Maryland is 6%, and wireless consumers in the county currently pay about 17.6% in taxes per month at the current rate. In addition to the applicable sales tax and telephone tax, County wireless users are subject also to other state and local E-911 taxes. The average Montgomery County customer would pay nearly three times what a Northern Virginia customer would pay!
More county taxes and fees on wireless would force even higher monthly costs on consumers, making the service less affordable and accessible for seniors, families, small businesses and students in this difficult economy. While it is true that many counties and cities across Maryland are in the midst of their worst fiscal crisis in modern history, and in many cases considering cuts to public safety and other essential services, or raising property taxes, it is also true that Montgomery County, MD, wireless customers are already paying among the highest taxes in the country. It is not fair to pile on new taxes when wireless consumers are already paying more than their fair share of city, state and local taxes.
Additionally, businesses today are increasingly incorporating wireless services and applications into their business plans. Wireless applications increase business productivity and profitability by improving transportation and logistics, integrating sales forces with home offices, providing remote access to information, and in a host of other ways. This proposed telephone tax will impose additional costs on businesses located in Montgomery County, making other counties, cities, and Washington, D.C. suburbs a more attractive place to do business and hurting the County’s important efforts to attract new businesses.
Wireless service needs to remain affordable and accessible to ALL
In these challenging economic times for all of us, now is not the time to take advantage of our dependence and daily reliance on cell phones by considering slapping Montgomery County consumers with a new $3 per line per month telephone tax, one of the highest local line-item wireless taxes in the nation. That’s bad news for you, and for our struggling economy. Elected officials in Montgomery County should be seeking to eliminate regressive taxes on all services to relieve consumers of excessive burdens, rather than expanding bad tax-and-spend policy to telecommunication service.
Now tell that to Montgomery County Executive Leggett, to Montgomery County Council President Floreen, and to the Montgomery County Councilmembers. Make your voice heard today! Say ‘No’ to regressive new monthly telephone taxes on Montgomery County wireless consumers only, proposed in the county budget for FY2011.
Already sent a letter to the County Executive and to your County Councilmember? You can still do more. Call their office now and leave your message, or send a personal email. Their office details are provided below.
Contact Information:
Montgomery County Executive
Ike Leggett
Executive Office Building
101 Monroe Street, 2nd Floor
Rockville, MD 20850
(240) 777-2500
TTY (240) 777-2544
FAX: (240) 777-2517
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Phil Andrews
240-777-7906
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Roger Berliner
240-777-7828
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Marc Elrich
240-777-7966
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Valerie Ervin
240-777-7960
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Nancy Floreen, Council President
240-777-7959
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Mike Knapp
240-777-7955
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George Leventhal
240-777-7811
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Nancy Navarro
240-777-7968
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Duchy Trachtenberg
240-777-7964
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Montgomery County Council
Stella B. Werner Council Office Building
100 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
(240) 777-7900
TTY (240) 777-7914
FAX: (240) 777-7989
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)