Property Tax Rate

They just don't get it. Those lesser-lights in the Baltimore City and Baltimore County councils still haven't figured out what the public wants from its elected leaders. The same holds true for most of this state's county executives and mayors.What the people want, these politicians maintain, is lower taxes. ''Cut the property tax rate!'' is still their battle cry.But is that really the most pressing thing on Marylanders' minds?No way.What's of paramount importance to citizens these days is public safety.

In the off-season, Ocean City often adds some new feature for tourists: a miniature golf course perhaps, a seafood restaurant or maybe a bar that caters to the beachgoing crowd. But here's a possible addition that might not be so welcome - parking meters north of 10 t h Street. On Friday, the Ocean City Council is expected to be briefed on a proposal to create a whopping 4,800 paid parking spaces. The most ambitious version of the plan would require visitors to pay for parking at any space along the streets on the Atlantic Ocean side of Coastal Highway from 10 t h Street to the Delaware line.

In Dan Rodricks' column "Recession changing Baltimore region's housing paradigm" (Dec. 16) he acknowledges that Baltimore urgently needs to cut its property tax rate to prevent further loss of population and investment, and he says that "somebody needs to figure this out, and fast. " Somebody already has. Last week, my organization, the Maryland Public Policy Institute (www.mdpolicy.org), published "How To Make Baltimore A Superstar City," a blueprint for reducing Baltimore's property tax rates and expanding the commercial and residential tax base for Baltimore City.

Baltimore County would add classrooms for thousands of students under a budget proposal unveiled Monday by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz - a plan advocates hope signals a commitment to solve the overcrowding that has plagued the school system. "There's an acknowledgment of the number of seats needed, and there seems to be the will to fund the additional seats," said Yara Cheikh, president of the PTA at Hampton Elementary School in Towson, the county's most overcrowded school. Kamenetz's proposal includes a $2.8 billion operating budget and a $339 million capital budget.

The Anne Arundel County Council raised the county property tax rate Tuesday, as it passed a budget plan that includes a steep funding decrease to the county's community college and delays a new facility for one of its most academically successful high schools. The council has been sharply divided during deliberations over the $1.2 billion spending plan for next fiscal year, discussing changes for more than 12 hours in one day last week. Members approved the rate increase — a hike of 3 cents per $100 of assessed value that was proposed by County Executive John R. Leopold — by a 4-3 vote.

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.

Although Sykesville residents will be paying more county property taxes, they can look forward to a reduction in the municipal property tax rate.The Town Council unanimously passed a budget last week that is based on a 79-cent rate per $100 of assessed value. The new tax is four cents lower than last year. The town budget for fiscal 1997, which begins July 1, is $1.1 million."There was a consensus on reducing the tax rate, but the question was how much," said Matthew H. Candland, town manager.

The Annapolis City Council cut the property tax rate by 5 cents last night as it approved with relatively little controversy a $39.6 million operating budget for the next fiscal year.The council soundly rejected a 7-cent reduction proposed by Alderman Wayne C. Turner."The council members were not persuaded that reducing the budget another 2 cents would have benefited taxpayers," said Alderman Carl O. Snowden, finance committee chairman. "It would have reduced services, and nobody was willing to do that."

ANNAPOLIS -- Looking more like a nibbler than the budget "slasher" he claimed to be during the campaign last fall, Anne Arundel County Executive Robert R. Neall submitted a budget with few painful cuts and a stable property tax rate yesterday.For the first time in 26 years, the county executive's proposed $616.6 million budget for next year is less -- though only slightly -- than the one approved by the County Council last year.Unlike in some neighboring counties, the proposed budget will not cause any layoffs but does require the county's 12,000 employees to forgo a cost-of-living pay raise.

New Windsor will keep its property tax rate at 45 cents per $100 of assessed value.Mayor Jack A. Gullo Jr. was to introduce a budget last night that maintains the tax rate at the same rate it has been for several years.The budget calls for a 2 percent cut in spending but still funds all town services. "The people of New Windsor would rather have the bare minimum of town services rather than pay for duplication of those same services from the county and state," said Mr. Gullo.New Windsor is the only town in the county that can function well with a part-time staff, he said.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

Back in the early 1990s, Baltimore leaders set a long-term goal: to have the city's property tax rate be no more than 150 percent that of Baltimore County. I was reminded of that goal last week, when Mayor Sheila Dixon announced a task force to recommend property tax relief, as many residents are reeling from soaring assessments. The city, of course, has never come close to reaching its goal. Although the numbers and calculations have changed (rates are now based on 100 percent of assessed value, as opposed to 40 percent 15 years ago)

From The Aegis of March 19, 1987: It was possible Harford County residents would be facing a property tax rate increase 25 years ago, but they were going to have to wait two more weeks to find out until Harford County Executive Habern Freeman released his proposed budget for the next fiscal year. Freeman, who took office in 1982, raised the tax rate his first year in office, then left it the same in the following three at $2.73 per $100 of assessed value. With two weeks to go until his budget for FY 1987-1988 was due to the Harford County Council April 1, Freeman said he was still unsure as to whether he would be seeking an increase.

OK, Madame Mayor: Count us in. You've pledged to increase Baltimore's population by 10,000 households over the next decade. My wife and I have just bought a charming city condo, and we're happy to put you one step closer to your goal. You should be happy, too, because we're in a key demographic. We're DILKs: dual income, launched kids. Because Maryland jurisdictions collect piggy-back income taxes on the basis of residential location rather than where wages are earned, our relocation decision carries a nice fiscal dividend.