Might the Baltimore Bridge collapse cause a “funeral tax” in Maryland?

April 2, 2024/Business, Regulations/

A week ago today I woke up to the news of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor. It wasn’t so long ago that I was in Baltimore for the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) convention in October 2022. I was in awe of being in proximity to this historical area where Fort McHenry lent so much to the birth and early history of our nation. And, I even enjoyed a great meal overlooking the that same harbor with some of my dear friends from the profession.

Needless to say, the tragedy that was the bridge collapse is heartbreaking. . . and it looks like at least six innocent souls will have perished during the event which makes it even more heartbreaking.

As an optimist I look for positives in almost all situations. . . I’ve found that attitude to be healthy. In coaching being behind in the score of a game always gave an opportunity for a great comeback. In funeral service there was always ways to improve visuals and/or services which created an opportunity for family satisfaction. Being optimistic, like I said, has always been healthy for me.

However, there is also a big part of me, that while optimistic, is also realistic. And, when I think of the bridge collapse I think of the enormous financial costs that will need to be born to put a new bridge in place. And, wherever the money comes from there is a good bet that at least part of the construction cost will come from the State of Maryland.

That’s where I find this interesting and a potential connection to funeral service. Earlier this month I read this article from ABC News Channel 7 out of Arlington, Virginia, that suggested that the Maryland state budget was about $761 million to the negative side of balanced and one of the ideas floated to rescue the budget was for a tax on certain services, such as funerals.

I saw the article, published on March 9th — almost three weeks before the bridge collapse. I then concluded that there was not much possibility for this idea to move forward so it was one of those articles that I read in my research but just let go without seeing any reason to share it with my readers. However, that was before the bridge collapse and the potential necessity of more funds being needed by the state of Maryland.

Who knows what will happen now?. . . But being a “realist” in society all but concludes to me that “anything is possible” going forward.

Funeral Director Daily take: I don’t want to take a leap and say that an event will cause a tax, however, seeing the article and then the event in such a close chronological time period made me think of the possibility of the tax now happening.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

What thinking about it also did was make me think about sales taxes on funerals and funeral merchandise. In lieu of no national sales tax each state is allowed to legislate if and how they will charge sales tax. That creates some interesting scenarios for funeral service across the country.

For instance, at one time in Minnesota, a rental casket was taxable but a casket used for burial or cremation was not. I don’t think that is still the case, but I’m not really sure.

And while this article is somewhat dated – 2015 – it does point out some of the interesting sales tax situations across the nation.

Taxing, spending, and tax fairness will always be an issue in America. Implementing the taxes on as local a base as possible will be cause for a myriad of taxes and reasons for them. . . . .however, that is government decisions as close to home as they can be and in my book, that is not necessarily such a bad thing.

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