Baltimore City Council leaders said yesterday that they will attempt to restore a property tax rate cut that Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration pulled from the city's proposed budget last month.
Though the council has limited power to alter the proposed $2.94 billion spending plan, several members said they will seek to cut millions in spending in the coming weeks so the city can afford to reduce its property tax rate by as much as 2 cents, the latest step in a five-year plan to reduce Baltimore's highest-in-the-state property tax rate.
Political wrangling over the issue this year underscores the pressure city leaders are under to do something about Baltimore's property tax at a time when assessments have increased and the economy is slowing.
"We can protect the commitment that was made for an incremental property tax reduction," said City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake. "I feel very strongly that we owe it to our constituents to find opportunities to get there."
Rawlings-Blake and other members struck a conciliatory tone, careful not to set the stage for the kind of budget showdowns that dominated City Hall under Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's administration. But the debate could prove to be one of the most significant policy disagreements between the council and the mayor since Dixon took office last year.
"I'm not looking for a fight, but I do know that we're going to try to look at some cuts," said City Councilman Bernard C. "Jack" Young, the chairman of the council's budget committee. "We're gonna try. ... I'm quite sure we can be creative enough to find something."
In 2005, Mayor Martin O'Malley announced a plan to reduce the city's property tax rate by 10 cents over five years. So far, city leaders have followed through on the plan for the past three years - including last year, under Dixon's first budget as mayor.
For an individual year, the savings are relatively small - about $60 on a home assessed at $300,000 - and are often offset by rising assessments that ultimately leave residents paying more. Over a five-year period, the cumulative savings are more significant.
As City Council president, Dixon supported the reduction in 2005 but also sounded a note of caution, saying that the city would have to "assess it every year."
