Dear Next Contestant –

Mr. Schuh is one of the founding members of the Legislature’s Tea Party Caucus – although it isn’t something he talks a lot about now that he’s running for County Executive.

He’s a Tea Party Republican who says that he believes in lower taxes and smaller government. That’s his a right, of course, to his opinion, but I don’t think it’s a philosophy of government that’s best for Anne Arundel County.

And he says that lowering property taxes will encourage development of the county. How’s that work exactly? You and I save money. We spend that money on what? Some food. Entertainment. Bills. College tuition for our kids. The vacation we haven’t taken in a couple of years, whatever. What we don’t do is give it companies as an incentive for them to move here.

Come to think of it, how much is Mr. Schuh talking about saving us?

The county property tax rate, not including Annapolis, is $ .91 (91 cents) per $100 of assessed value. If my house is assessed for, let’s say, $100,000, my property tax is $910 a year. That’s a lot of money. Okay, so let’s say that Mr. Schuh reduces my property taxes by 3%. He’s going to save my family and me $27.30. Per year. That’s an average of $2.28 per month.

Round numbers, a Big Mac costs $4. So, Mr. Schuh is going to save me enough to buy my family of four less than 7 Big Macs a year, not including fries, sodas or shakes. Thank you, Mr. Schuh, but I’m not impressed. …And he thinks that’s a plan that will bring employers to the county?

At least the other guy, Mr. Johnson, has his head on straight when it comes to funding county services and stimulating the county economy. And he isn’t making promises he can’t keep or that don’t have any real impact on my family just to get elected.