On Monday, November 24 the Salisbury City Council unanimously passed a rain tax. At this point the fee of the tax has not been announced, however it’s likely to be established by a separate ordinance in spring 2015. The new tax is expected to be $20 annually. Reportedly, the money will be used to fix old pipes and modernize ditches and ponds in an attempt to relieve flooding and reduce pollution spilling into waterways that flow into the Chesapeake Bay.
The utility was first proposed in Salisbury in 2009 by an environmental task force created by then-Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman and wasn’t considered again until 2013 when a University of Maryland’s Environmental Finance Center study showed the need for $25 million in stormwater upgrades.
Salisbury follows three other cities on the Eastern Shore; Berlin, Centerville and Oxford, in mandating a rain tax.