It’s a simple green piece of paper. Hundreds or thousands of them are mailed to Marylanders who contemplate living in a state more free than the one we call home.

Headlined “Benefits to Living in Delaware,” the flier outlines a whole list of advantages to moving down the ocean — on the Delaware side. It’s not tough to make a state look friendlier to its residents than Maryland. The O’Malley Gang has raised taxes a couple of times already and is just getting started.

The marketing piece highlights everything from Delaware’s lack of a sales tax (imagine that) to its low personal taxes. For Maryland businessmen (including the one who gave me this) or retirees, Delaware offers everything Maryland has except for the high crime, high taxes and overwhelming traffic. The flier also includes the number for the Delaware Division of Revenue to make it look official.

If you are like me and want to stay close to home and hearth, Delaware provides that, along with being closer to the beach. It costs less and probably cures the common cold as well. (OK, that last part was hyperbole. The rest: true.)

This story continues below
Advertisement

Meanwhile, both Baltimore City and Howard County are chasing away their residents. Baltimore wants to keep leeching off of its hard-working residents — those who don’t leave to guard their financial futures.

Mayor Sheila Dixon can’t even put her own two cents into the issue. If you live within the city limits, she’s putting in your two cents. Dixon froze the highest property tax rate in the land (Mary-land, that is) at $2.26 per $100 of assessed value, following three straight years of two-cent annual cuts.

Two measly cents, and the city can’t even manage that. Less than 1 percent. The city property tax is more than twice any other county in the state. Most of the Baltimore metro area counties fall closer to $1 or so. Baltimore County, the second worst, is just $1.10.

To help that sink in, the city could go ahead and cut its rate two cents. Not just in 2008, but in every year for the next 50, and it still would be several years away from matching its neighbors. And that ignores inflation.

Dixon has some up-and-coming competition, however. Howard County Exec Ken Ulman runs his budget process like a punch line. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

The proposed budget goes up 5 percent, which some of our legislators think is reasonable after years of much higher increases. Ask yourself how many people you know who got a raise of 5 percent or more last year. Ulman even tried to raise the fee we pay for trash, just to have $5 million to fritter away on free recycling bins.

Our next-door neighbor’s state song begins “Oh our Delaware! Our beloved Delaware!” It’s not exactly “Maryland, My Maryland,” but I bet more than a few of our citizens could learn to love it.