The Corporatizing of America Continues

from the Baltimore Sun

Harford County officials may have been reluctant to talk about a Wal-Mart coming to the Emmorton area south of Bel Air when the subject first came up more than a year ago, but the developer of the site off Route 924 and Plumtree Road is moving forward with the project regardless.

Legal notices were published in The Aegis last week announcing a community input meeting "for a proposed Wal-Mart and other commercial uses" on 33.7 acres on the southwest side of the intersection of Route 924 and Plumtree Road.

The input meeting will be held on July 19 at the Patterson Mill High School auditorium from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Despite the legal notices being published, the county had not posted the meeting on its own website as of 5 p.m. Monday.

According to the legal notice, "the purpose of this meeting is for the applicant to provide information to the community regarding the proposed commercial development (including draft plans for the site layout) and to allow citizens to ask questions and make comments and suggestions."

In the spring of 2011, as the county was planning for its latest Master Land Use Plan update, planning and zoning and other county officials refused to discuss the possibility of a Wal-Mart coming to the Plumtree site, saying there had been no plan submitted or any discussions with Wal-Mart. They stonewalled members of the public who said they were concerned about the impact such a project would have on traffic and the surrounding area.

Wal-Mart at the time also declined to say if it was interested in the Plumtree site or if it was considering moving north and closing its store at Route 24 and I-95, less than two miles away from the Plumtree site.

According to county and state tax records, the 33-acre site is owned by Evergreen Business Trust. All but three acres of the property were zoned R-3 high density residential until 2009, when the entire site was comprehensively rezoned to B-3 business by the Harford County Council, as part of a countywide review of zoning. A contract purchaser of the site requested the change, and there was some public opposition to making it, many people believing at the time that the property was being eyed by Wegmans, which did eventually build a store farther south on Route 24 near the existing Wal-Mart.

Despite the other concerns from the public about Wal-Mart moving to Plumtree, the land use plan update that the county council eventually passed earlier this year by the county council had no impact on the site being developed for a Wal-Mart or any other large commercial building.

Though the site is entirely wooded, it is surrounded by high density commercial development on three sides, while Route 24 serves as a divider on the west side.

Additional details on the project were not immediately available.

So much for small independent retail business and retail business owners in Harford County having ANY chance at all to compete... maybe after the third local Walmart has eliminated every small retailer, Bain Capital can come in and bankrupt the Harford County Walmart corporate monopoly...

The One Party State People's Republic Exodus

Tax Base Growthfrom the Washington Times

Maryland lost the most residents in the mid-Atlantic between 2007 and 2010 - and many of them moved to Virginia, according to a study released Tuesday.

Almost 40,000 Marylanders crossed the Potomac River for new homes in Virginia, taking $2.17 billion with them, according to the Internal Revenue Service data used in the study conducted by Change Maryland, a nonpartisan group advocating for less state spending and lower taxes.

The high level of loss may reflect people’s dissatisfaction with Maryland’s tax policy, said Jim Pettit, spokesman for Change Maryland.

“People vote with their feet,” he said, adding that tax policies “absolutely” are tied to the number of people leaving the state. Critics have said Maryland has less-friendly tax policies than Virginia, and new income-tax increases for the state’s highest earners went into effect Sunday.

The study analyzed data from the IRS Statistics of Income Division to show county-by-county changes in the state’s tax base. The numbers represent people who have left Maryland for Virginia and do not take into account people who have moved to the state and their income levels.

According to Change Maryland, the Free State suffered a larger loss in its tax base than 43 other states.

“The benefits of a growing tax base ease the pressure to raise revenues and, conversely, a shrinking tax base often leads to a troublesome tax-and-spend downward spiral as actual revenues fail to meet estimates,” said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan.

Decreasing population was most prevalent in larger jurisdictions, according to Change Maryland.

Prince George’s County lost more than 44,000 people, and 36,600 left Baltimore County.

Montgomery County’s tax base declined by $22 million.

Change Maryland found only six states that lost more people in the three-year period: New York, California, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and New Jersey.

Nearby, the District lost more than 1,100 residents; Pennsylvania lost more than 8,200. Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia, on the other hand, gained tax filers, according to Change Maryland.

Some Marylanders have been given the opportunity to relocate when businesses move to Virginia. Many high-profile businesses have recently chosen Virginia over its Beltway neighbor.

Virginia won a high-stakes regional battle in 2010 to lure defense giant Northrop Grumman’s headquarters to the state from California. Bechtel Corp., based in Frederick, Md., announced in November it was relocating its corporate headquarters to Fairfax, bringing with it 625 jobs and an $18 million investment.

Silver Spring-based technology firm Acentia announced in January that it would invest $3.1 million in moving its headquarters to Fairfax, bringing with it 60 jobs.

“Maryland does not exist in a bubble. We compete with other states, and counties compete with other counties,” Mr. Pettit said.

Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, chalks up the larger jurisdiction’s losses to housing costs. These areas should be more concerned about affordable housing options than taxes, he said.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration has publicly questioned studies concluding that taxpayers are leaving Maryland especially to move to Virginia. O’Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory pointed out that the IRS data include only taxes filed before late September, which may exclude some of the wealthiest residents who received extensions for complex returns.

The Maryland Department of Budget and Management, in its own study analyzing IRS tax returns, found that the state had the region’s smallest percent change from 2007 to 2010, Ms. Guillory said.

The department’s report showed Maryland’s tax returns decreasing by 5.3 percent, compared with a 7.1 percent decrease in Virginia, she said.

Despite the losses, smaller counties gained people. According to Change Maryland’s study, those along the Eastern Shore benefited from in-state migration. Kent, Talbot, Queen Anne’s and Worcester counties’ numbers were on the upswing.

Mr. Pettit credits small county government, which is typically not dominated by Democrats as in many of the state’s larger areas, for the growth of smaller counties.

“There’s a give and take on tax and spending issues,” he said. “The focus should be on increasing the tax base, not increasing taxes.”

Mr. Bergsman cited economists and sociologists who conclude that more people move because of life changes such as marriage and jobs than because of taxes. The quality of public services -such as education, health care and environmental quality - play a large factor, too, he said.

“I’m a little bit worried for Virginia that they’re embarking on a program of disinvesting in those things,” he said.

Mr. Bergsman emphasized that the overall number of people who left the state is small in comparison with the total number of tax filers.

“People are moving across the border in both directions. The vast majority are staying put,” he said.

All Hail Rodney this Independence Day

from the Harford County Dagger

Last night (July 1 into July 2, 2012) I awoke hearing the rain battering against my house. This late night-to-early morning rainstorm led me to recall one of America’s forgotten heroes, Caesar Rodney, and his midnight ride for independence. Although Caesar Rodney is unfortunately forgotten by many teachers and textbook writers today, his midnight ride to Philadelphia forever changed American history; as he cast the tie-breaking vote to deliver us independence from Great Britain. The following briefly recounts Founding Father Caesar Rodney’s important role in the fight for American Independence.

On June 30, 1776, a motion for independence was put forward in the Continental Congress. Debates over independence continued into July 1, 1776. A vote was held whereby nine colonies voted for independence. Two colonies, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, voted against independence. One colony, New York, abstained from the vote, and another colony, Delaware, was split on its vote.

Delaware sent three delegates to the Continental Congress: Thomas McKean, George Read and Caesar Rodney. Mr. Rodney, however, was not present June 30 – July 1, 1776, because he was performing his duties as Brigadier General of the Delaware militia. Thus, Delaware’s tied voted was between Mr. McKean, who voted for independence, and Mr. Read, who voted against independence.

Although the Continental Congress had enough support to carry a motion declaring independence, it did not want to move forward with such a declaration without unanimous support from the colonies. Thomas McKean dispatched a rider to notify Caesar Rodney of Delaware’s tied vote and to inform him that he was desperately needed in Congress. The dispatch rider reached Rodney at almost midnight on July 1, 1776. Without delay, Caesar Rodney got on his horse and rode approximately 80 miles, through the night and a terrible thunderstorm, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Caesar Rodney arrived in Philadelphia muddied and in his boots and spurs just as another vote for independence was about to take place on July 2, 1776. Rodney cast his vote for independence, breaking Delaware’s tied vote. South Carolina and Pennsylvania changed their vote and voted for independence. New York still abstained from voting on the basis that its delegates had no specific instructions, but the Continental Congress now had its unanimous support for independence from all voting colonies.

Caesar Rodney’s midnight ride to Philadelphia would have been a strenuous ride for just about anyone, but it was even more taxing on Rodney who was of ill heath; suffering from, among other things, asthma and cancer of the jaw. It is believed that Mr. Rodney had been told of a physician in London who could treat his cancer. Whether that was true we do not know for sure. One thing, however, was for certain—Rodney’s vote for independence was considered high treason and caused him to be branded a traitor to the Crown. As history records, Caesar Rodney gave up the possibility of receiving medical treatment in London because he voted and pledged his life, fortune and sacred honor for American Independence.

It is interesting that Rome fell at the hands of a Caesar and American independence was helped to be born by the selfless and heroic actions of another Caesar—Caesar Rodney. Today, a statue of Caesar Rodney stands on Rodney Square in Wilmington, Delaware and his image appears on the 1999 U.S. Delaware Quarter. On July 4th, as we celebrate American independence by partaking in the excitement of patriotic parades, enjoying cookouts with friends and family, and watching firework displays, I ask you to share with others the story of this important, yet often forgotten, dedicated American patriot.