About half the residents of Mount Airy might have to pay an additional tax to Frederick County for fire and emergency service - even though they support Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company with their town taxes.
Until now, residents living on the Frederick County side of Mount Airy have been exempt from Frederick's fire tax district system, which generates money for fire and ambulance protection. The other half of the town's 5,600 residents live in Carroll County, which has no similar fire tax system.
The issue arose yesterday as Frederick and Carroll commissioners joined Mount Airy town officials at an annual get-together to discuss areas of mutual concern in the fast-growing area, which straddles the Baltimore and the Washington metropolitan regions.
Frederick County Commissioner John L. "Lennie" Thompson Jr. said the tax would be imposed on Mount Airy town residents July 1 - if it is approved after a public hearing in Frederick on April 10.
Tax system changes
Frederick County has 26 volunteer fire and rescue companies, said Stanley L. Poole Jr., county director of emergency services. The county has been divided into 13 fire districts and officials recently decided to simplify the system by creating two tax categories: an urban category for Frederick and the fast-growing area to the east, including Mount Airy; and a suburban category for the rest of the county.
The tax is based upon assessed property value, Poole said. If the owner of a $100,000 home pays a $72 fire-district tax, that fee would increase to between $100 and $150 in the designated suburban area. In the urban area, the $108 tax on a $100,000 home would increase to between $150 and $225.
Several Mount Airy officials who live on the Frederick side of town objected, including Town Council members Billy Wagner and Laurie V. Hager, and Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company Chief Gene Mellin.
Double taxation
Mayor Gerald R. Johnson called it double taxation, saying Mount Airy contributed $90,000 to the town fire company last year.
"We pay a fire tax: We don't designate it as a fire tax," Johnson said. "For you to come in and say now [town residents in] Frederick County have to pay this tax, then we're double taxing."
Frederick officials chose the consolidated fire-and-rescue tax system to preserve the spirit of voluntarism, rather than charging for ambulance transportation, as most Carroll companies do, Poole said.
