BOAST Tax Credit Could Save Maryland Taxpayers $267 Million

May 17, 2010 - PRLog -- The BOAST Tax Credit proposal could produce net fiscal savings to the state of Maryland ranging from $7 million to $267 million over a 10-year period, according to a new report released today by the Foundation for Educational Choice.

The comprehensive study projects the fiscal impact of the BOAST Tax Credit proposal for Maryland, examining a variety of scenarios for the program and its bottom-line impact on state and local education coffers.

According to Brian Gottlob, Senior Fellow and author of the study, under no situation would the BOAST tax credit negatively impact local school districts or their per-pupil resources.

"Actually, after reviewing the proposal this would generate substantial savings,” said Gottlob, an economist. "With fewer children to educate, the state would enjoy a savings of $1 million to $28 million in the first year alone, depending on the average size of the scholarship."

In the report, Gottlob says as long as the vast majority of tax credits are used for scholarships and not for public school programming it would provide a savings for state and local taxpayers.

"This puts to bed the myth that a tax credit program would cost Maryland schools money," said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of the Foundation for Educational Choice. "The data show that the opposite is true. In this case, everyone wins. The state wins, taxpayers win, K-12 education wins and most importantly, parents and students win since they will have more school choices."

Key findings of the report include:

•  Depending on the average scholarship value, and the percentage of private school scholarships awarded to public school students, net fiscal benefits range between $7 million and $267 million over a 10-year period.

•  Considering only the tax-credit scholarship portion of BOAST produces even larger net fiscal benefits for the state of Maryland, as much as $354 million over 10 years.

•  No projection finds that the BOAST proposal negatively affects the fiscal situation of local school districts or the per-pupil resources available to them.

•  The higher the percentage of scholarships awarded to public school students to attend private schools, the greater the benefits to the state and local school districts. The state of Maryland receives a net fiscal benefit, in the form of reduced per-pupil state education aid expenditures, for each public school student who receives a BOAST scholarship as long as the value of the scholarship is lower than the cost of the tax credit awarded to fund it.

What is the BOAST Tax Credit?
The BOAST Maryland Tax Credit proposal would allow businesses to claim a 75 percent state tax credit (rather than a charitable deduction) for donations to nonprofit organizations that either provide private school scholarships or support innovative public school programs.

To read the full study or to learn more about the Foundation for Educational Choice visit http://www.EdChoice.org/MDFiscal.

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About The Foundation for Educational Choice:
The Foundation for Educational Choice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit/nonpartisan organization, solely dedicated to advancing Milton and Rose Friedman’s vision of school choice for all children. First established as the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation in 1996, the foundation continues to promote school choice as the most effective and equitable way to improve the quality of K-12 education in America. The foundation is dedicated to research, education, and promotion of the vital issues and implications related to choice in K-12 education. More at http://www.EdChoice.org