THE PRICE
ISN'T RIGHT

You may not have heard much about a bill that was quietly passed last week by the Montgomery County Council. But you'll likely notice the results of this "procurement reform" law in the near future when you receive your county tax bill.

Among other provisions that could raise the cost of procurement in Montgomery County Government is one that definitely will: The new law applies the existing county "living wage" law to every county contractor - including the smallest of small businesses. That means, even a 1 or 2 person operation.

What this will do is raise the cost of purchases in two ways: First, some contractors will be unable to pay the living wage ($11-something dollars - to call that a "living wage" in Montgomery County is a joke) and will no longer contract with the county. That will reduce the number of contractors or vendors for any given product. Simple economics (not the strong suit of the county council these days) tells us that less competition will make prices skyrocket. The county will still need those supplies, and will be more than happy to pass the cost on to you, the taxpayer.

Second, the remaining contractors - faced with what is essentially a tax - will do what business does in the real world: pass the tax on to the customer. That customer - the government - will again pass that on to you.

Once again, the council has made their bloated budget bigger, and raised the cost of living in Montgomery County.