Back in the early 1990s, Baltimore leaders set a long-term goal: to have the city's property tax rate be no more than 150 percent that of Baltimore County.
I was reminded of that goal last week, when Mayor Sheila Dixon announced a task force to recommend property tax relief, as many residents are reeling from soaring assessments.
The city, of course, has never come close to reaching its goal.
Although the numbers and calculations have changed (rates are now based on 100 percent of assessed value, as opposed to 40 percent 15 years ago), Baltimore's property tax rate remains now what is was then: about twice that of Baltimore County's.
To reach that 150 percent goal, the city would have to shave its current tax rate of $2.288 per $100 of assessed value by about 30 percent, or about 60 cents.
Since the city derives about $2.5 million for each penny in the property tax rate, that would be a loss to city coffers of $150 million. That's about 8 percent of the city's overall operating budget.
Whether Dixon's task force will decide the 150 percent goal is still a worthy one to pursue -- and will recommend a blueprint and a timetable for achieving it -- remains to be seen.
But one thing seems certain: Dixon's charge to have the task force issue its findings after the pivotal September Democratic mayoral primary is unlikely to put off the political debate over property taxes. Indeed, the mayor's reluctance to commit this year to the third of a series of five previously announced 2-cent reductions in the property tax rate drew immediate rejoinders from Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake, a mayoral ally, and Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr., who is opposing Dixon for mayor. It's not a stretch to believe that the property tax rate could join crime and school governance as key issues in this year's city elections.
Which is not to say that the task force doesn't have a lot on its plate. Among other things, Dixon wants the panel to review the various tax credits and exemptions in place and recommend changes to the current tax and fee structure.
Some options that are apt to be politically popular with city residents, such as the initiation of a commuter tax, are just as sure to be political non-starters with the General Assembly.
Unless you're the federal government and can print money, the conundrum in cutting property taxes -- or any other taxes, for that matter -- is what needs do you leave underfunded?
