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3832
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VETOES
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Senate Bill No. 814
May 18, 1977
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Honorable Marvin Mandel
Governor of Maryland
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404
Re: Senate Bill 814
Dear Governor Mandel:
We have reviewed Senate Bill 814 and it is our
opinion that it is unconstitutional. The bill adds a new
Section 380A to the Public Local Laws of Kent County
(1968 Edition and 1975 Supplement, as amended) which
reads in part as follows:
"(A) The County Commissioners of Kent County may
charge a fee for the use of any public landing upon
a navigable river, canal, bay, sound, or other
navigable body of water in Kent County established
by the County Commissioners pursuant to Article 25,
Section 156 of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
(B) The County Commissioners may establish a fee
for users who are residents of Kent County and a fee
in a separate amount for users who are not residents
of Kent County. The amounts of the fees shall be
fixed to repay the County for expenditures in
construction, equipment, upkeep, and improvement of
the landings. The different amounts shall be fixed
to insure the rights of the public generally to the
use of the landings, and to avoid an undue financial
burden on the residents of Kent County."
Kent County operates under the system of Code Home
Rule established in Article XI-F of the Maryland
Constitution, Annotated Code of Maryland (1977 Repl.
Vol.). Section 9 of Article XI-F provides as follows:
"A code county shall not levy any type of tax,
license fee, franchise tax or fee which was not in
effect or authorized in the code county at the time
it came under the provisions of this Article, until
an express authorization of the General Assembly has
been enacted for this purpose by a general law which
in its terms and effect applies alike to all code
counties in one or more of the classes provided for
in Section 5 of this Article."
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It is apparent to us that the "fee" authorized by
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