Synagogue Loses Challenge To Storm Water Remediation Fee

In Shaarei Tfiloh Congregation v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, (MD App., April 27, 2018), in a suit by a synagogue the Maryland Court of Special Appeals held that Baltimore's Storm Water Remediation Fee is an excise tax, not a property tax.  Thus the tax exemption for property used for public religious worship does not apply.  The court also held that RLUIPA is not applicable because the Storm Water Fee is not a land use regulation.