Councilman Marks: Eliminate or Reduce Cell Phone Tax

Councilman Marks: Eliminate or Reduce the Proposed Cell Phone Tax On the eve of the Baltimore County Council’s vote on the proposed cell phone tax, my hope is that the Council will eliminate the tax or modifying it to better reflect existing taxes on landline phones. Legislation introduced by the County Executive would charge $3.50 per line. As we have seen with budget deliberations, where Republicans offered more than $40 million in cuts, the majority party can block every single motion offered by the Republicans on the County Council. The cuts offered by the Republicans would have eliminated the cell phone tax. If the Democrats proceed with the cell phone tax, it should at least be modified to match the 8 percent tax on landline phones, and should exempt data from the cost. Matching the cell phone tax with the existing 8 percent tax on landline services would drop the amount paid by consumers, especially senior citizens who typically own cheaper devices. I am doing all in my power to soften the impact of the cell phone proposal. Matching any cell phone tax with the 8 percent landline tax would lighten the effect of this legislation which is likely to pass.