Property Owners

CA should focus spending narrowly Once again, the civic leaders of Howard County have asked the Columbia Association to provide funds for what should be a county-wide issue - the preservation of slave quarters. More disconcerting is the fact that the Columbia Association Board of Directors is likely to approve funds to preserve the property. The Columbia Association is neither a government nor a charitable foundation. It is a homeowners' association, albeit a relatively affluent one. More than half of its revenues are generated by assessments on all of the property owners of Columbia.

Baltimore County has scheduled a series of public meetings and workshops on the potential redevelopment of parts of the U.S. Route 40 corridor in Middle River. The meetings will be held at Rosedale Baptist Church, located at 9202 Philadelphia Road. "Input from community residents, businesses, and property owners will help craft a long-term vision that could guide redevelopment over the next 25 years," county officials said in an announcement of the meetings. "Decisions about whether or when to redevelop property will be made by property owners.

THE PROBLEM Baltimore property owners paid their tax bills, but the payments weren't properly processed. THE BACKSTORY Carol Foster of Phoenix couldn't understand it. She paid the property tax on her husband's dental office on Harford Road in July when the bill was due. But, in December, the couple received another letter. Foster thought it was another invoice. "I said, 'What, I've got to pay this twice a year now?'" she said. It was actually a notice to pay the taxes owed or the property would be sold at tax sale.

Amid complaints over what critics dismiss as a "rain tax," some powerful lawmakers in Annapolis are mounting a last-minute attempt Monday to delay state-mandated storm-water fees that Baltimore city and Maryland's nine largest counties are about to assess their property owners for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. State Sen. Joan Carter Conway , chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said Sunday she plans to propose...

Erica Carter's move from Pasadena to Baltimore was difficult, she said, not because of the lack of housing options, but because many places would not allow her pit bull Bailey. Though Carter has settled into a rental near Patterson Park, she said the search was daunting. And she fears it will only get worse with her next move after last week's Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that pit bulls are inherently dangerous animals. The court's decision could have far-reaching implications for landlords and dog owners who rent.

The nation's home and rental property owners continued to upgrade their properties at a healthy clip in the second quarter, with no letup from the first quarter's pace, according to the National Association of Home Builders' Remodeling Market Index, released last week. The index also found that remodelers in some markets are reining in their expectations. The index has two related parts, one that measures current market conditions and another that measures future market expectations. The index for current conditions in the remodeling market held steady at 52.7 for a second consecutive quarter.

WASHINGTON -- Homebuyers, owners and vacation property investors nationwide should be the prime beneficiaries of a new Clinton administration effort to cut environmental red tape for small-scale real estate holders.Effective Sept. 25, the federal government overhauled the way it treats "Mom and Pop" real estate owners whose property contains -- or might contain -- what the federal government defines as a "wetland."Even though the wooded home-site lot you bought is bone dry virtually the entire year and is miles away from the closest stream or shoreline, it still may meet the federal government's standards for a wetland because of its soil composition or plant life.

For years, the only way Baltimore code enforcers could prod property owners to fix problems - if asking didn't work - was taking them to court. Now the city can slap them with a fine. And it intends to. "We're going to be increasingly relying on citations for enforcement," said Michael Braverman, the city's deputy commissioner for permits and code enforcement. "We want the message to get out: Respond to the violation notice. Don't think about waiting for a summons to appear in District Court.

Louis Singer, owner and operator of Singer Realty Inc., who helped establish the Property Owners Association of Greater Baltimore Inc., died Tuesday of cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 82 and lived in Lutherville. In the late 1940s and 1950s, Mr. Singer practiced law with Benson Gross and Morton Perry in Baltimore, representing many real estate developers and builders. He began buying and managing properties in 1945, concentrating his real estate interests in the Edmondson Village, Northwood, Homestead and Lake Montebello neighborhoods in the city.

Crofton property owners will be asked tonight to approve a 1997 tax district budget of $574,000, a 1 percent increase over the current spending plan.Under a change in the Crofton Civic Association bylaws approved a year ago, a budget that includes an increase over the previous year may not be adopted without a membership vote. Under the old bylaws, the budget was approved by the association board of directors.Residents can either approve the spending plan or send it back to the board for changes.

The City of Havre de Grace is proposing on the May ballot to purchase a residential lot next to the Concord Point Lighthouse. A 3,546-square foot residence presently exists on the property. I am having a problem in understanding the value proposed to be paid as it relates to the benefits to be received by the citizens of Havre de Grace. Yes, it extends the city ownership of waterfront by about 250 feet between the lighthouse and the Heron Harbor Condominiums. However, the direct usefulness of the property to the citizens is questionable.

State tax officials should take steps to help ensure that Marylanders who receive the homestead property tax credit remain eligible for the popular discount, auditors said in a report released Wednesday. Auditors also said state officials should methodically review some past recipients to identify owners who have gotten large tax discounts improperly — and who should refund the government. "There are ways to be proactive about this and not depend on people providing tips," state Legislative Auditor Thomas J. Barnickel III said in an interview Wednesday.

Do you think the property tax assessment you recently received is too high? Interested in filing an appeal of your assessment? On Tuesday, Live Baltimore is hosting a session where homeowners who just received assessment notices can learn how to file an appeal. Property owners who would like to contest their new assessment have until Feb. 11 to do so. The workshop will run from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the nonprofit's storefront office, 343 N. Charles St., and an employee of the state's Department of Assessments and Taxation will be on hand to answer questions.

Visitors to Ocean City are often struck by the contrasting fortunes of the vacant Ocean Plaza Mall on 94 t h Street and the bustle of development along U.S. 50 in West Ocean City , with its new Walmart and other big-box stores. There are a number of reasons for this, but one in particular sticks in the resort town's collective craw: double taxation. In essence, property owners in Ocean City have been subsidizing sprawl development outside town limits, a self-destructive policy that can only be described as dumb growth.

Maryland homeowners could lose out on hundreds of dollars in tax bill savings if they miss a deadline that's a week away. Many may not realize they must sign up for the Homestead Tax Credit, which saved the average Baltimore homeowner more than $1,000 in the most recent tax year. To receive the credit in property tax bills starting this July, homeowners must sign up by Dec. 31. "When you say the words 'tax credit' to some homeowners, it doesn't really resonate what they're getting out of it," Baltimore City Councilman Nick Mosby said.

Just two weeks after Baltimore voters approved setting up a special fund for cleaning up the city's degraded streams and harbor, City Hall has proposed legislation to begin levying a "storm-water remediation fee" next year on all property owners. Introduced by City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young at the behest of the Rawlings-Blake administration, the bill would require homeowners and businesses to pay a quarterly fee toward municipal efforts to keep trash and pollution from washing off streets, parking lots and buildings into storm drains and streams whenever it rains.

Washington -- If you own or ever plan to buy any form of real estate, you should be aware of a piece of significant legislation simmering in the Senate.It's called the Omnibus Property Rights Act of 1995 (S. 605). It's not to be confused with a more limited "Contract with America" property owners' relief bill passed in March by the House. In fact, the Senate's bill reverses the familiar pattern established thus far in the 104th Congress: On this issue, it's the Senate that's come up with the big, bold solution, while Newt Gingrich's Republican revolutionaries settled for less.

The Columbia Association is likely this week to lower the cap on the annual charge that property owners pay and approve increases in fees that Columbia residents pay to use association sports and fitness facilities. The association board will give final approval Wednesday to the fiscal 2007 budget. Last week, the board, on a 5-3 straw vote, agreed to lower the cap applied to its annual charge from 5 percent to 4 percent. The charge is the tax-like fee the association imposes on Columbia property owners based on property value.

The letter written by Kristen Burger, president of the Sparks Glencoe Community Planning Council in the North County News (Oct. 11, "Councilman Huff's CZMP decisions only benefit 'chosen few'") begs for rebuttal. It contains untruthful and inaccurate claims. The council assumes that it has power to express its agenda on development and total environmental protection to all the citizens of the 3rd District and in particular, the Hereford Zone. They do not represent most of the people in the Sparks Glencoe area and very few in the North County.

About 25,000 Baltimore homeowners who received the Homestead Property Tax Credit this year will lose the sometimes-large break if they don't apply for it by Dec. 31, the Baltimore City Council warned Monday. The one-time application is a relatively new requirement — the General Assembly mandated it in 2007 to cut down on ineligibility problems, setting the deadline at the end of this year to give homeowners plenty of time. But Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young and other council members are worried that some residents will see their tax bills spike next July because they don't know about the requirement.