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Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez after testifying at the Montgomery County Council against a tax break for Lockheed Martin. (9/21/10)
At a time when Montgomery County is furloughing firefighters, reducing library hours, cutting services for the poor, and even charging people a new tax to bring their dogs to the park, the Montgomery County Council is considering a bill to exempt Lockheed Martin’s hotel in Bethesda from the county’s hotel tax. This special tax exemption would cost Montgomery County $450,000 per year.
Last year, Lockheed Martin had $45 billion in revenues, and paid its CEO $22 million. On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council held a hearing on this proposed tax break.
Maryland State Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez testified against the tax break. “I was the only one appalled at the request for a waiver for Lockheed Martin,” when it initially passed at the state level, Gutierrez said. Local activists asked Gutierrez to testify against the bill at the local level. “The bottom line, here in the county, is that we would be giving a waiver, an exemption from paying local taxes, to a major corporation without any real justification,” Gutierrez said.
George Gluck, Green Party Candidate for Montgomery County Council at large, and Patrick McCann, a Montgomery County teacher who gave up a $5000 raise to help balance the budget, also testified.
McCann said, “I’m a Montgomery County teacher and I gave up $5,000 this year in raises to help balance the budget and here they are giving away the store to one of the richest defense contractors in the country. I see two issues involved here: One is money given away to people who are some of the most affluent people in the country, and I think there’s also an issue of war here. I don’t really support the fact that this country’s main economy is war and I don’t think that our money should be going to slavishly kneel to the defense contractors.”