Big Commuter Tax Credit Goes Unclaimed in Maryland

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD (WUSA) -- If the government was giving away free money, you would think people would be lining up.

Maryland's been trying to give away tax credits to help you get to work and it's had very few takers.

"My Smart Card!" crows Anne Whitt. The human resources vice president works for one of the few companies taking advantage of the tax giveaway. "It's very nice!" to get another $100 a month, she says.

For nearly a decade, Maryland has offered businesses a tax credit to encourage people to get out of their cars and take a vanpool, Metro, or the bus to work.

If a company gives an employee $100 dollars a month to take Metro, it gets $50 back from the state.

There are about 112-thousand business in Maryland -- But Chevy Chase Bank is one of just 19 to sign on. "It just hasn't been publicized or presented in the right way," says Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Fares for mass transit have climbed no where near as fast as gas prices. Making the credit even more valuable to employees. "Is their pocketbook hit hard enough for us to get folks where we've been trying to get 'em for years, which is out of their cars?" asks Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen.

The bank says the tax credits had been worth thousands of dollars -- and it's helped it keep its' workers around. "If we lose one employee, it costs us a lot of money to replace them," says Russ McNish, senior vice president and human resources director for Chevy Chase Bank.

Anne Whitt says she's spending much less for gas -- and she gets to read a book on her way to work. "It's been great."

If you work in the most congested parts of Montgomery County, you can get even more cash to vanpool or take mass transit. The county will give you 114 dollars a month for a year -- if you just get your employer to kick in one dollar.