Maryland lawmakers float delivery fees, higher tolls to make up for infrastructure budget shortfall

BALTIMORE — Maryland’s transportation budget faces a multi-billion dollar shortfall, and proposals to make up for potential losses could cost taxpayers.

Maryland is facing a $3.3 billion shortfall in transportation funding for key infrastructure – like highway and bridge repair – through 2030. Some lawmakers are coming up with new ideas to raise money for those projects.

Things are still in the brainstorming and proposal phases, but ideas were floated in a hearing Tuesday at the House of Delegates. 

The MTA could need up to $600 million by next year to cover maintenance costs, and more fuel-efficient cars means the gas tax doesn’t bring in as much as it used to. 

One idea: a 50-cent fee for most online purchases and home delivery transactions, like Doordash and Grubhub.

The 50-cent delivery fee would apply to every transaction, not every item. So if you ordered a bunch of items from the local Target, that’s 50 cents.  

Other ideas are being floated around to raise money, including raising toll rates or giving each county the power to raise property taxes for local projects.