The Sun's editorial page notes that Delaware, long reputed tax haven, is cranking up taxes to fill an enormous budget gap. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, it reports, has:

increased the state's gross receipts tax to about 2.1 percent and the income tax on top earners to 6.95 percent. (And when Delaware says "top earners," it means anybody making more than $60,000 a year.) Taxes on cigarettes, alcohol and slot machine proceeds are going up, too. The state is increasing corporate franchise taxes and the public utility tax and is resurrecting the estate tax.

All that still probably won't bring our neighbors to quite the level of Maryland's combined state and local taxation. The Washington-based Tax Foundation ranked Maryland fourth in that measure in 2008, while Delaware came in 24th at 9.5 percent. This new increase would put Delaware in the 10 percent range, still lower than Maryland's 10.8 percent. That difference amounts to about $1,187 less in taxes per person in Delaware. Then again, Marylanders make $7,820 more per capita than their counterparts in the First State, so moving still might not be such a great idea.

I think Delaware may still look pretty good next to Maryland the next time the Tax Foundation does its study. Delaware's gross receipts tax -- a stealth sales tax -- is still far lower than Maryland's 6 percent sales tax. Unlike Maryland, Delaware has no "piggyback" income tax for localities. So even a top income-tax bracket in Delaware of 6.95 percent is far less than what most Marylanders pay even in lower brackets for the combined state and local income tax. That's the first thing taxpayers see.

(Note that the Tax Foundation percentages are not tax brackets. Rather they represent all state and local taxes -- property, sales, income etc. -- paid by people in that state as a percentage of personal income.)