[CPEO-IRF] Ft. Meade (MD) and taxes

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

A fair exchange

Editorial
Baltimore Sun (MD)
September 23, 2007

It's not unprecedented for the state of Maryland to tax a private, 
for-profit company that's doing business on public land. In fact, the 
law allows it - which makes Anne Arundel County's ire at the loss of tax 
revenue from a planned private development at Fort Meade understandable. 
The relocation of thousands of federal jobs to Fort Meade will increase 
traffic on roads leading to the base, but officials seeking compensation 
must focus their efforts on the private developer, not the government.

That's because a 1953 state law precludes taxing federal enclaves. But 
private developers shouldn't get a free ride simply because they are 
behind the gates of an Army base. There are also other ways they can 
help lessen the impact of the base's growth.

At issue is the planned construction of a $700 million office complex 
for defense-related contractors expected here as part of the federal 
Base Realignment and Closure plan. The Army Corps of Engineers has been 
negotiating to build the project under an arrangement in which the 
developer leases the land.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.bractax23sep23,0,6008920.story
--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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