MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                        2823

locality have no direct interest, and a "public
general law" is one which deals with a subject in
which all the citizens of the state are interested
alike, and the fact that it permits or directs
differences in matters of mere administrative detail
suited to the peculiar needs of localities does not
make it any the less a public general law."
(Citations omitted).

House Bill 990 would cut back on the power of a
single charter county to impose taxes by requiring that
it create a differential rate for the residents of the
City of Annapolis.** We believe that this would fail
within the definition of a public local law. It affects
the citizens of a single county. It has a distinctly
local thrust and it is not a subject in which the
citizens of the state have a like interest. Moreover,
this cannot be characterized as a difference in
administrative detail peculiarly suited to the special
needs of Anne Arundel County. Therefore, if it is on a
subject covered by a grant of express powers, it would
appear to run counter to the constitutional prohibition
cited above.

Article 25A, Section 5(o) includes within the
express powers granted to charter counties the power to
assess, levy and collect taxes. In Washington Coca—Cola
Co., Inc. v. Montgomery County, (Equity No. 54916
unreported) (March 19, 1976), the Circuit Court of
Montgomery County*** discussed the Article 25A, Section
5(o) grant stating:

"the taxes referred to therein are property taxes
... and a reasonable interpretation of Article XI—A,
Section 4, would be that the legislature is
prohibited from enacting local legislation for a
single charter county on the subject of property
taxes ..."

The Court went on to find the legislation under
consideration was permissible since it concerned excise
and not property taxes for a single charter county. We
find nothing in House Bill 990 to suggest that it relates
to other than property taxes.

In addition to the grant of power in Article 25A to
charter counties, there is a further grant of power to
many of the counties of the state to create tax
differentials within municipalities to allow for
governmental services performed by the municipality. See
Article 81, Section 32A. This power permits but does not
require a county to create such a differential. Nor does
it require that a differential be created in any
specified amount. House Bill 990 would make the creation
of such a differential mandatory on Anne Arundel County