Assessed Value

Howard County residents are used to getting new year shocks from the property tax assessor, but many weren't prepared for the one they got this year.Nearly half the 23,480 properties assessed in Ellicott City and west Columbia the past year declined in value, some by more than 10 percent; the others increased.A similar assessment picture is expected a year from now when another third of the county -- Savage, North Laurel and the rural west -- is reassessed, and two years from now when east Columbia and parts of Elkridge get their turn.

They're some of the priciest condos in the city, but they're taxed like empty lots. At the Ritz-Carlton Residences along Baltimore's Inner Harbor — where a recent sale topped $1.5 million — the tax bill for most of the condos was $1,309 apiece this year. At Silo Point, an industrial conversion with gourmet kitchens, hardwood floors and sweeping views of the city, the bill for many of the units is $238 each. Even though they were built years ago, and city inspectors declared them ready to live in, they are still valued for tax purposes as though construction never got off the ground.

In two minutes, it was over. A 23-room Ellicott City mansion - built by a couple who won a multimillion-dollar Powerball lottery game in 1994 - was sold at auction last night for $2.58 million, several hundred thousand less than its assessed value. Michael Fine, senior vice president for Chicago-based Sheldon Good & Co. Auctions, which handled the event at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, would identify the high bidder only as a Maryland resident. The winning bid was $2.4 million, but $180,000 was added to satisfy the auctioneer's buyer's premium of 7.5 percent.

Maryland homeowners will see property values plunge 22 percent on average in the latest round of state assessments — a record drop that won't necessarily translate into lower taxes. State assessors plan to announce the details today as they mail notices to the one-third of residential and commercial owners whose properties were reassessed, about 740,000 in all. Assessed values dropped on 95 percent of the residential properties compared with their last reassessment in late 2007, when home prices were just beginning to reverse after big increases.

Faced with a bevy of school maintenance needs and new employee contracts, County Executive Janet S. Owens will seek the first increase in the local property tax rate since 1996, according to several County Council members. Council members expect Owens to propose raising the rate by 4 cents per $100 of assessed value -- or 1.7 percent -- when she unveils her 2000-2001 budget request Monday. That is the maximum allowed under the terms of a revenue cap passed by voter referendum in 1992.

The Mount Airy Town Council has agreed to keep the town's homestead tax credit at 103 percent for 1997-1998.The homestead tax credit limits the increase in assessed value RTC on which a property can be taxed. Under Mount Airy's credit, for example, a homeowner would not see a taxable increase of more than 3 percent a year or 9 percent over Maryland's three-year phased-in assessment.For example, if a house's assessed value rises 20 percent under Maryland's three-year phased assessment, a homeowner living in a town with a 3 percent cap would be taxed only on a 9 percent increase in assessed value over the three years.

Operating budget: $68.6 million Spending increase: 10 percent Proposed tax rate: 56 cents per $100 of assessed value (no change) Employee raises: 3 percent New spending: Five additional police officers; bulkhead repairs at City Dock; water and sewer improvements[Source: Office of the Mayor]

Sykesville homeowners may divide their property tax bills into two annual installments, due this month and Jan. 1.Residents, who traditionally have been responsible for the entire tax payment July 1, must choose a payment plan and notify town officials.Late payment fees will be assessed Oct. 1 and Feb. 1.Town property taxes, 79 cents per $100 of assessed value, are paid in addition to county taxes, $2.62 per $100 of assessed value.FireGamber: Firefighters responded at 3 p.m. Tuesday to a smoke detector alarm in the 4700 block of Sykesville Road.

Three Baltimore County councilmen have submitted a bill that would stiffen the penalty for demolishing historic structures without a permit. People without a permit who demolish structures on the historic landmarks list now face a fine equal to the assessed value of the building but no greater than $100,000. Under the new proposal, violators would face the greater of $158,000 or the assessed value of the property. The minimum fine of $158,000 would increase each year by the average annual increase in county property values.

Columbia property owners have been overcharged on their town fees for the past 12 years, with each household paying more than $1,000 too much, a group of civic activists contends.The controversial claim was raised by the Alliance for a Better Columbia at Thursday night's meeting of the Columbia Council, which manages public facilities in the unincorporated city.Council Chairman Charles A. Acquard discounted the alliance claims yesterday, saying that the law firm of Piper & Marbury had given town officials an opinion concluding that they were not overcharging property owners.

Baltimore's Board of Estimates approved an agreement Wednesday to lease city-owned land near M&T Bank Stadium to the developers of a slots parlor, with revenues aimed at a reduction in the property tax rate. "I made it very clear that we would only do this for property tax reduction and school construction," said Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, who has previously opposed gambling. The city officials hope for an 8-cent reduction in the city's property tax rate of $2.27 per $100 in assessed value - more than twice as high as in adjacent Baltimore County and the highest in the state by far. City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake supported the measure, saying that the city will "flourish" by using revenues from the facility's rent payments to build schools and cut taxes.

Blaming a weak economy and shaky revenues, Mayor Sheila Dixon is abandoning a long-standing plan to cut 2 cents this year from Baltimore's highest-in-the-state property tax rate. The annual cut - which has been made each of the past three years - was supposed to knock 10 cents off the tax rate over a five-year period. The reductions have become a primary means to provide tax relief to city property owners. Baltimore's property tax rate is by far the highest in Maryland - more than twice Baltimore County's - and a broad spectrum of city officials have acknowledged that the tax may be stifling growth and threatening homeowners on fixed incomes.

Relying on a surge in property and income tax revenue to offset losses from a sliding economy, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon proposed a modest budget yesterday with a small property tax cut and no increase in other levies. Predicting tougher times ahead, Dixon proposed a $2.92 billion budget, about 10.4 percent more than last year. The plan includes nominal increases for police, fire and schools but also cuts to parks and health programs and the elimination of 95 vacant positions. The spending plan, which must be approved by the City Council, continues for the fourth straight year the city's practice of reducing its property tax rate by 2 cents annually, though many residents will still pay more because of rising assessments.

Nick Chirigos could hardly believe his eyes earlier this year when he opened the letter from the state telling him the new assessed value of his home. It had shot up nearly 60 percent from the last assessment he received in 2005. "These increases are confiscatory and outrageous," said the Lutherville resident. Chirigos has already filed an appeal -- something he's had success with in the past. He built the 3,400-square-foot home in 1996, and it was assessed a few months later. A year later, the state re-evaluated the house and said it was worth $100,000 more, even though he had made no significant improvements to it. "All I did was plant three rose bushes that cost me $45 -- and I dug the holes for them myself," he said.

A study committee's proposal to decrease Baltimore's property tax rate but make up for lost revenue by increasing the cap on assessed home value, among other options, evoked negative reactions from dozens of city homeowners at a hearing last night. The proposal to lift the annual cap on the increase in assessments on principal residences, known as the Homestead Tax Credit, from 4 percent to 10 percent seemed to worry homeowners most, especially those who bought houses before the local real estate market peaked.

Baltimore suffers from a difficult conjunction of financial maladies: the highest property tax rate in Maryland, the greatest concentration of poverty in the region and a big swath of tax-exempt property (fully one-third of its taxable base). The best way to lower the tax rate would be to enlarge the tax base, but unfortunately, the best way to enlarge the base is to lower the rate. It's not a vicious circle, exactly, but it's one that's very difficult to break into. What's the city to do?

We want your opinions THE ISSUE: In his final State of the County address last week, County Executive James N. Robey proposed a 3-cent reduction in the county property tax. If approved in the 2007 budget, the property tax rate would be dropped from $1.044 to $1.01 per $100 of assessed value. That means the tax bill for a house valued at $450,000 would decrease from $4,698 to $4,563. Do you think this is a fair proposal? YOUR VIEW: Send e-mail responses by tomorrow to howard.speakout@baltsun.

Annapolis would hire more police employees, provide raises to city employees and lower the property tax rate under a spending plan released yesterday by Mayor Ellen O. Moyer. The mayor proposed a $57.5 million budget that would reduce the property tax rate by 2 cents, to 58 cents per $100 of assessed value. But many homeowners can expect to pay more in property taxes this year because of rising real estate assessments. The state reported last year that tax assessments in the city had risen an average of about 40 percent over three years; those new assessments are being phased in. The state limits assessment increases to 10 percent a year.

The Annapolis city council has adopted a $75.1 million operating budget that holds the line on the property tax rate, but the aldermen still have to consider a mountain of amendments. In a 15-minute meeting Monday, the council delayed taking up any of the record 103 budget tweaks, most of which call for cutting overtime spending, contracted services and funding for nonprofit agencies. Instead, the council sent all of the amendments back to its three-member finance committee, which expects to take them up next month.

As a cooling real-estate market continues to be a drag on city finances, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration proposed a $2.65 billion spending plan yesterday that calls for a slight property tax cut and increased spending for recreation centers, the cleanup of vacant property and affordable housing. Spending would increase by nearly 11 percent in the fiscal year that begins July 1, though that increase is largely driven by $160 million in state environmental grants - including money from Maryland's "flush tax" - the city will use to rebuild sewage treatment plants that currently permit tons of pollution to flow into the Chesapeake Bay every year.