I applaud the efforts by Keith Losoya and R. Paul Warren to demonstrate that the city is leaving millions on the table every year as a result of the underassessment of commercial properties ("Homeowners' burden," Commentary, Sept. 11).
The city government needs to recognize that homeowners are one of the city's greatest assets.
We help to stabilize and restore neighborhoods, clean and police the streets, and show our commitment to the city by purchasing property here, even though we know the suburbs offer better services for lower taxes.
But when I attended the Sept. 11 hearing of the City Council's Special Committee on Property Tax Relief, I was saddened to hear the mayor's office proclaim that slots revenue could be the solution to the city's property tax woes.
I'm not opposed to slot machines in Maryland. Indeed, my family has ties to the horse racing industry in West Virginia. But I feel that adding slots to a discussion of residential vs. commercial property taxes was a red herring.
Many other major cities have tax rates much lower than Baltimore's without slots revenue. Like many city families, my family receives the homestead tax credit, an essential tool to keeping the city affordable. However, as we begin raising children and look toward selling our "starter" home, the huge taxes we'd owe on our next house might force us to look outside the city.
This city has made a lot of progress in the last 10 years. As city property values increase, homebuyers are taking a look at the more significant role property taxes play in their budgets.
The city needs to tax commercial property owners fairly and give homeowners a break.
Adam Blumenthal, Baltimore
Homeowners in Baltimore owe Keith Losoya and R. Paul Warren much gratitude for exposing the flagrant disparity in tax assessments between commercial and residential property.
However, what should be just as alarming for homeowners is the recommendation of the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee on Taxes and Fees to increase the amount assessments can rise under the city's homestead tax cap from 4 percent to 10 percent a year.
This change would be particularly burdensome to middle-class homeowners and retired homeowners on fixed incomes.
The 4 percent cap is the only reason many of us have not abandoned the city, and if it is raised, I will, reluctantly, after 38 years, have to join the stampeding herd looking for greener pastures.
Lawrence Grissom, Baltimore
I applaud the brilliant work of Baltimore residents R. Paul Warren and Keith Losoya in bringing to light the staggering gap between the assessments of residential properties and commercial properties in the city.
While the mayor's blue-ribbon panel suggested everything short of a bake sale to bring our taxes down, it somehow missed the obvious: Commercial property owners need to pay as much as homeowners do to support this city.
Commercial properties should be assessed at their market value, just like private homes, and just as the state's constitution requires.
It's that simple, folks.
Steve Bowman, Baltimore
