Tax Breaks

The only thing both sides in Congress seem to agree on is to forego collecting the payroll tax for the Social Security Retirement System ("What it may mean to raise eligibility age for Medicare," Dec. 10). This "entitlement" program exists because we fund it during our working years, and for many people it is their only retirement savings. If we fail to pay Social Security payroll taxes we cannot expect money to be available when we retire. Dan Griffin, Perry Hall Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

The Baltimore City Council on Monday granted preliminary approval to more than $20 million in tax breaks for the long-stalled "Superblock" development. The council's unanimous vote provides for $22.1 million in tax breaks to the developer, Lexington Square Partners LLC. A vote for final approval is expected Thursday. "Hopefully, this project will reignite the growth of the central business district," said City Councilman Carl Stokes, who spoke in favor of the development. Lexington Square Partners has promised local hiring initiatives and profit-sharing with the city, Stokes said.

While politicians spar in Washington over how to keep the nation from going over a "fiscal cliff," environmental activists warn that the wind-energy industry faces its own cliff if Congress doesn't act soon to extend a federal tax break for turbine construction, which expires at the end of the year. The latest alarm comes from Environment Maryland , which held a press conference on Baltimore's Federal Hill Wednesday to tout the environmental benefits of wind farms, including healthier air, water conservation and reduced emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants.

When Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold returned his automatic pay raise in solidarity with county workers, he also entitled himself to an income tax deduction. Leopold says he declined it. Because the returns technically amount to a donation to Anne Arundel County government, they could have entitled him to a bigger refund on his taxes. But that extra money would also have meant breaking a promise not to take a raise if the government could not afford one for county workers.

  Update: On Friday afternoon, Henry J. Raymond, the city's deputy finance director, sent The Sun this email: “We are in our continuous audit process and will not take any action until all accounts can be reviewed and we can approach these errors with a standardized procedure and communication. We are still determining issues related to values allowed for use as the base year assessment. Until we have that determination, it is not cost effective to recalculate the credit because we might need to correct the accounts again once we have the determination relative to the base year assessment from a legal perspective.

I am not a Democrat nor Republican. I'm what my voter registration calls "unaffiliated. " I like to think that it allows me to accept and consider anything political, from all sides. In addition, I have a very pragmatic outlook on all things. Plus, my wife considers me a "rigger," one who has the attitude that any problem at home can be solved with whatever works. With this I am able, in my mind, to digest problems without any agenda, by looking at what works and what doesn't.

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.

The Baltimore City Council gave preliminary approval on Monday to a proposal for a decade of tax breaks for Harbor Point, the future home of Exelon Corp.'s Baltimore headquarters. Two council members, Nick Mosby and Carl Stokes, voted against including John Paterakis' Harbor East Development Group LLC's latest project in a state-wide tax credit program for economically disadvantaged areas. But the majority of the 14-member council approved the plan, which calls for the roughly 32-acre Harbor Point site to be included in Baltimore's Enterprise Zone.

The reminders are coming more frequently now, but plenty of homeowners don't seem to have gotten the message. More than 100,000 Maryland homeowners haven't yet applied for a property-tax break known as the homestead credit , which this year is reducing the average Baltimore recipient's bill by more than $1,000. Some owners have received the break for years, but they'll lose it next tax year if they don't turn in an application by Dec. 31. The General Assembly voted the requirement into law five years ago in an effort to root out homestead credits going to non-homesteads such as rentals.

A House subcommittee has voted to amend the governor's gambling bill to give larger guaranteed tax breaks to casino operators in Anne Arundel County and Baltimore and to allow a casino in Cecil County to apply for a tax break. Del. Frank Turner, the subcommittee chair, said lawmakers examined financial impact studies commissioned by the General Assembly and felt the casinos would need the help if the state allows a sixth casino to open. "We looked at the venues and how they'd be affected," Turner said.