Phone Tax Increase Fails in Pr. George's As Montgomery Considers Tax Cap Protocol - washingtonpost.com

Anti-tax sentiment prompted Prince George's County voters to reject a ballot measure yesterday that would have raised the tax on telephone bills to aid schools, but a widely contested attempt to curb annual property tax increases in Montgomery County was too close to call....

In Prince George's, County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) recommended raising the local telephone tax from 8 percent to 11 percent of monthly bills to generate $17 million a year for schools. The tax would have cost residents as much as $1.50 per bill, county spokesman John Erzen said. The county took back $14 million from the school system's $1.7 billion operating budget this fiscal year to help close a $57 million revenue shortfall.