Leggett urges council to double cell phone tax & energy tax

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett proposed doubling energy taxes and raising cell phone taxes by more than 50 percent to help close the county's newly discovered$168 million budget hole. Leggett argued for the tax increases and a number of other quick budget fixes on Thursday, two weeks before the County Council is scheduled to submit a final fiscal 2011 budget that closes a nearly $1 billion budget gap. "You get to the point of diminishing return, where you have to decide whether it's worth further reductions to services," Leggett said. "We need to shift a little bit of this money ... across the board." The county executive also suggested reducing the earned income tax credit by 33 percent, which would slash average annual credits from $530 to $353. SOURCE: Washington Examiner