Council President Does, Doesn't, Does Support Bottle Tax

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young is not supporting a proposed 3 cents increase of the bottle tax for school construction.

Or is he?

Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said during a budget hearing Thursday that Young backed off his support for the tax increae.

"He said that at the hearing," Clarke said. "I hope he said that in a moment of reaction and not in reversing a commitment he'd made."

The Baltimore Brew's Fern Shen, who attended the hearing, also reported Young renounced his support for the bottle tax during the hearing.

"I will vote 'no' on the bottle tax," Young said, according to the website. 

But on Friday afternoon, Lester Davis, Young's spokesman, denied his boss was changing his stance on the bottle tax increase.

"I was at the same hearing. I did not hear him say that," Davis said.

Young, during a last month, stood in front of hundreds of advocates, students and parents and pledged support for the tax increase that is part of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's plan to leverage $300 million in bonds for school construction.

The flap over Young's support for the bottle tax came after Rawlings-Blake's administration issued a letter critical of Young's alternative budget proposal.

Earlier this week Young that he said would provide $17.1 million in modifications to Rawlings-Blake's proposed $2.8 billion operating budget.

The modifications, which include the city not filling vacant positions and raising the expected revenues from speed cameras, are supposed to allow the city to double spending for summer jobs for youths, double funding for after school programs and prevent the closure of three fire houses. 

Rawlings-Blake, in a letter in response to the proposals, called Young's proposals "unadvisable, unworkable, and irresponsible"

Young's office issued a response to the media after the hearing Thursday that was critical of Rawlings-Blake.

“It’s a sad day in Baltimore when our Mayor refuses to support a proposal that would greatly benefit City residents. Residents expect their elected officials to find innovative ways of saying ‘yes’ to the core services that protect their communities and enhance their quality of life," Young said in the emailed statement.

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