MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                      1785

The Montgomery County Council has used this tax power and
its 1969-1970 budget relies on $500,000 it anticipates receiving from
this tax source. The Council has gone on record in opposition
to this bill. I am attaching herewith a copy of the letter to me from
the Montgomery County Attorney written upon the instructions of
the County Council.

Supporters of the measure point out that there will be a one-
half percent tax on such transfers effective July 1, 1969, pursuant
to House Bill 29 which I have previously signed into law. They argue,
persuasively, that the transfer tax imposed by the Montgomery
County Council is burdensome on this type of realty and that it does
not deal with problems of alleged loopholes in farmland assessment
in suburban counties.

In view of the impact that Montgomery County would suffer if
Senate Bill 429 were to become law, I have decided to veto it.
However, I urge the General Assembly and the Montgomery County
Council to address themselves more thoughtfully to this tax and to
the implications of its level when Senate Bill 139, changing the
formula on farmland assessments, takes effect. Future legislation
and my evaluation of the situation should not be based on the fact
that, under all the circumstances, I have vetoed this bill in this year.

Sincerely,
/s/ Marvin Mandel,

Governor.

Letter from Montgomery County Council

May 5, 1969.
The Honorable
Governor Marvin Mandel
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

RE: Senate Bill 429

1969 General Assembly
Dear Governor Mandel:

By a vote of 4 to 3, at its meeting of April 29, the County
Council for Montgomery County instructed me to request that you
veto Senate Bill 429 enacted in the recent session of the General
Assembly.

This Bill would repeal a section of the Public Local Law which
authorizes the County Council to levy and impose taxes on the trans-
fer of fee simple interest in real property. The present statute au-
thorizes rates not to exceed specified amounts for three different
classes of property: Six percent of the value of the consideration
for any transfer of land which while owned by the transferor has
been assessed at any time during the five years preceding transfer
on the basis of being actively devoted to farm or agricultural use;
six percent of the value of the consideration for any transfer of
real property which has been rezoned to a more intensive use at the
instance of the transferor or transferee excluding the value of im-
provements, construction, after event; one percent of value of the