County Council Considers Changes to Bag Tax

This article was written and reported by Laura Thornton.

Tired of the bag tax? Well, a part of it could be altered at some point in the near future.

The Montgomery County Council held a public hearing on Tuesday, June 18, on proposed changes to the county's five-cent tax on carryout bags, according to an email from the council's office.

The proposed Bill 10-13 would limit the bag tax, so that it would apply only to bags from food stores.

"The bag tax, which went into effect last year, is now in place for most retail stores and carryout food. The changes would make the tax apply only to food stores, which are defined as any retail store where food consists of more than 2 percent of gross sales by dollar value," WTOP reported.

Since the bill went into effect a year ago last January, the county has taken in more than $2 million in bag taxes. Bag tax revenue currently goes toward solid waste management, watershed restoration, litter pickup and stormwater management. Retailers keep a penny from each bag, Patch reported.

County Councilmembers Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda), Craig Rice (D-Germantown) and Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) proposed the changes to the bag tax in May, Patch reported.

Are you in favor of changing the bag tax so that it applies only to bags from food stores? Tell us in the comments.