Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon backed away yesterday from a commitment made by her predecessor to cut the city's property tax rate by 2 cents annually - potentially ending a policy that lowered Baltimore's tax rate to its lowest point in decades.
During a news conference in which she named a new task force to make long-term property tax relief recommendations, Dixon would not commit to continuing annual 2-cent reductions billed by then-Mayor Martin O'Malley as the best way to cut Baltimore's tax rate, which is the highest in Maryland.
The shift away from the annual reductions and toward what she promises will be a more comprehensive overhaul of the city's tax structure represents one of Dixon's most significant breaks from the O'Malley administration so far.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in yesterday's Maryland section incorrectly stated that the city of Baltimore recorded a budget surplus in the current fiscal year. The surplus was achieved in the previous fiscal year, which ended in 2006.
The Sun regrets the error.
When asked directly whether she will include the 2-cent reduction in next year's budget proposal, Dixon said: "I'm committed to evaluating it as we deliberate over this budget."
Asked to clarify, she said: "It's on the table, and I'm looking at our entire budget. We have a lot of needs in our budget."
Unlike many of the nation's rust belt cities, Baltimore has benefited from a real-estate boom in recent years that increased the amount of money collected in property and recordation taxes. In the current fiscal year, the city expects to post a $61 million surplus, the second surplus in as many years.
In March 2005, O'Malley announced the city would knock 2 cents off the city's property tax rate every year for five years, a commitment that was kept in the two subsequent budgets.
In the first year of those cuts, the owner of a home assessed at $250,000 saved $50 a year. By year five, assuming a constant assessment, that homeowner would have realized an annual savings of $250.
Dixon, who became mayor last month when O'Malley became governor, attended the 2005 announcement of the five-year tax plan, said she supported the effort and voted in favor of it on the council and Board of Estimates. She did express caution at the time, noting that the city would have to "assess it every year as we move forward."
Dixon named 20 people to a task force yesterday to look into other solutions for reducing property taxes, but that committee will not make its recommendations until a week after the Sept. 11 primary election. The budget for fiscal 2008, which begins July 1, must be completed early this summer.
