NEWS
By Stephen Walters | April 7, 2013
When cities become dysfunctional, we do not quickly abandon them and our established social networks and routines. And after a city puts itself back together, we may take years to become convinced that the bad old days are over. Awareness of these facts likely accounts for City Hall's mature, muted response to the Census Bureau's latest population report: after six straight decades of embarrassing shrinkage, Baltimore has grown by about 1,100 residents since mid-2011. But there has been no triumphant rhetoric from Mayor Rawlings-Blake.
NEWS
Dan Rodricks | February 20, 2013
Excuse me, but what are my fellow Baltimoreans complaining about? The mayor has proposed doing something to avoid an all-out collapse of the city's finances, and some citizens of Paradise-on-the-Patapsco are annoyed, confused or just so cranky and fed up with February they need a good cheesesteak sub from Captain Harvey's. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake wants to lower the city's highest-in-the-state property tax rate to a level that makes the rate more competitive with those in surrounding counties, and — what?
NEWS
February 6, 2013
It should come as no surprise that Baltimore City's long-term fiscal prospects are bad. The population has dropped by more than a third since its peak, poverty and unemployment are high, and the signs of disinvestment are everywhere. Meanwhile, the way the city provides government services remains effectively unchanged, and the cost of everything from police to code enforcement grows every year. But just how bad things are has never been apparent, largely because no one has had the stomach to ask. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake did, and the answer, presented to the City Council today, was grimmer than most would have guessed.
NEWS
August 4, 2012
Now that Baltimore has finally received approval for a vendor for a slots casino, MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blakestates she wants to use the proceeds to reduce the property tax rate ("As city's casino moves forward, Rocky Gap plans to scale back," Aug. 1). What about the racing industry that slots were supposed to help? What about funding the fire houses that are closing, what about fixing the water mains, what about getting rid of the bottle tax and whatever happened to fixing dilapidated schools?
NEWS
May 7, 2012
Those who wish to lose weight - and with summer swim season around the corner that's probably most of us - know that there are two easy ways to sabotage one's diet and exercise program. The first is to try to do too much all at once and fail, and the other is to say it's all futile and just keep doing what we've been doing. So it's not terribly surprising that Baltimore's property tax reduction program approved last Monday by the City Council is receiving a similar reception from those who either believe the city can't afford it or claim it's just not enough.
NEWS
By Andrea F. Siegel, The Baltimore Sun | April 16, 2012
Anne Arundel County residents would see their property taxes increase under the $1.2 billion budget proposed Monday by County Executive John R. Leopold, but that would be partially offset by a drop in trash pickup frequency and fees. County workers, meanwhile, would see an end to furloughs but receive no raises. Leopold's spending plan for the year that begins July 1 includes boosting the tax rate from 91 cents to 94.1 cents per $100 of assessed value. For a home with an assessed value of $261,200, the forecast countywide average, taxes would go up by about $128 for the year, officials said.