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The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
October 4, 2013
New Business Needed In Wicomico
By TRAVIS BROWN
STAFF WRITER
SALISBURY – A new strategy is needed to get Wicomico County out of some rough economic waters, according to a financial sustainability study discussed this week. Conducted by the Sage Policy Group Inc., the report argues against either tax increases or spending cuts and instead urges the county to find ways to become more attractive to business and to improve quality of life for residents. “They analyzed our revenue trends. They then studied our tax capacity relative to our tax effort,” Wayne Strausburg, director of administration, told the Wicomico County Council Tuesday. Wicomico “finds itself in an extraordinarily difficult position,” began the report’s summary section. Despite having the highest income tax allowable under state law and being fourth out of 24 in property tax collection, once county and municipal taxes are considered, the county still struggles with funding. Because of this, there has been an increased reliance on state and federal support to fund things like county education instead of using local money. “The implication is that Wicomico County has already exhausted much of its capacity to raise revenue through taxes,” read the report. “There are also limits to future tax
increases.” Though more funding is needed, taxes are already too high, according to members of several focus groups that Sage met with. One tax in particular, a tax on business inventory, proved especially unpopular. “Stakeholders unanimously agreed that the county should not raise taxes,” read the study. “Many believe that the inventory tax should be eliminated or adjusted.” At this point in reviewing the report, Strausburg pointed out to the council that, compared to neighboring counties like Talbot and Worcester, Wicomico struggles with a lower assessable property base per capita. Wicomico weighs in at a rate of $768, compared to $2,619 for Talbot and $3,658 for Worcester. Councilman Bob Culver suggested that the discrepancy in values could be partially explained by Wicomico’s farmland being undervalued. However, Strausburg reminded the council that Talbot and Worcester also have a lot of agriculturezoned land and thus should be an “apples to apples” comparison for Wicomico, in his opinion. Even with tax worries, residents oppose spending cuts. “At the same time, additional spending cuts appear roughly as problematic,” noted the report. “If anything, there needs to be greater investment in quality of life, human SEE PAGE 34
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