Montgomery County Bag Tax Impact (Video)
Bag Tax
As of this year, Montgomery County shoppers must pay a 5-cent bag tax on every plastic or paper bag if they don’t bring their own. So how much has the county collected from this new tax? County officials said they have collected $154,000 in the first month. The funds collected are earmarked for a water quality protection program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6ix4TqSXTs
Yes, the new bag tax has changed my behavior indeed! Since I am forced to choose between carrying my own bag or having to pay 5 cents for each one with no option for paper, I have a chosen to opt-out of the entire issue by approximately 80%.
That is to say, since I am a commuter who works in Northern Virginia and am there daily, I have been stopping at the Harris Teeter in Ballston for groceries and filling up my tank at one of several stations before I depart the state for home in Montgomery county.
Prior to this, I was filling up for years at local Montgomery county stations and using my local Giant but I’ve decided to show my dis-satisfaction by “passing” the gas and food revenue to Virginia. I still buy some things locally here in the county but I’m glad to report that many places are only giving a half-hearted effort and the bags still flow freely. This is a ridiculous and business unfriendly tax which needs to be repealed immediately.
Ike and his local groupies on the Montgomery council can have fun counting the nickels and perhaps, at some point, realize that not everyone in the county agrees with this major inconvenience and may begin to count the real cost of lost revenue as a result of people shopping elsewhere.
It is quite frustrating to see our County Council conducting social engineering through legislation. Do they really think they are going to change the behavior of the people by making them pay 5 cents for their sin? I am passionate about recycling, but I would never be so arrogant as to make everyone pay for the disrespectful actions of a few. Councilmembers are there to SERVE the people, not dictate how and when we reuse our bags. If the Council really wants to stop bags from getting into the streams then enforce the litter laws. We all see drivers throwing garbage out the window. Why don’t the police stop them and fine them? Just yesterday I saw a guy throw a cup out the car window and almost hit a police car. I guess that officer was too busy, maybe tracking down the evil merchants who did not send their bag tax to King Leggett on time.
It seems more appropriate to address the behavior of littering by punishing those that litter. And not just bags, but ALL garbage. Sin taxes are morally wrong and they never stop the sin, only promote “illegal” behavior. Many merchants are “forgetting” to collect the tax and most everyone is still using shopping bags at the mall. For me, I now shop at Tysons. White Flint stores are shutting down. I am sure this is not the behavior the Council intended, but I am embarrassed to shop in MC. At what point do you think the 8 out of 9 county councilmembers who voted for the bag tax might have some regret? District 4 County Councilmember informed me last week in an email that she “stands by her vote.” For me, I intend to vote against her in November.