580 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

when you expected $12 million more than you got? I can't say it's
bright, but I do think it's subject to reversal. If business picks up and
construction starts in the country, and I do think that there's a pos-
sibility and I'm hopeful that the conservative estimates on the grad-
uated tax might be understated at this time, but we won't know that
for several more months.

Q. Governor, the Montgomery County Council was preparing a
week or so ago, or a couple weeks ago, to levy the full 50% surtax
or piggyback tax locally and ran into a tremendous public storm of
opposition and in the course of events has now dropped even the
20% tax starting with the first of January. Do you have any comment
on the Montgomery County budget?

A. My understanding was that they didn't drop the 20% but that
they merely felt, or some of those that advocated using a greater
proportion of the optional tax felt, that if they wanted to continue
the 20% that this might be regarded as a commitment to 20% at
this time that would foreclose their going any higher.

Q. They have dropped it as I understand it.

A. I don't believe that they are going to be able to realistically drop
it and meet their budgetary requirements with the property tax alone.
It's going to put a tremendous burden on the property tax there if
they do that and I may be wrong, but I don't think that that was
their intention. I think their intention was to postpone any further
consideration of the matter until things have apparently crystalized a
little better and then make their judgment about how much of the
graduated income tax they were going to use and how much of the
property tax they were going to use.

Q. They've decided to drop it entirely until they've considered the
budget in April. Drop the withholding, drop the whole tax.

A. I don't know what's going through their minds, but I would say
they've embarked on a very dangerous course of action, if they stick
to the fact that they are not going to use the income tax at all.
Q. Governor, Mayor D'Alesandro recently said that he was going to
come to Annapolis to make a plea for more State aid to the City and
also for an adjustment of the State and City relationship. Do you see
any possibility for more State aid to the City?

A. If I'm not mistaken, inherent in the business tax reforms that
are being proposed is some slight additional aid to the subdivisions;
so I am certainly never going to foreclose the possibility of additional
aid to the City or to any subdivision. But any massive readjustment