Tax Cap

Howard County Executive James N. Robey vetoed a Republican-sponsored measure yesterday that would have trimmed the assessment cap on the taxable value of homes from 5 percent to 4 percent, a measure that would have saved the owner of a median-priced $450,000 home $46 a year. The County Council approved the assessment bill, sponsored by western county Republican Charles C. Feaga, on a 3-2 vote Monday night. Four votes are required to override a veto. Robey based his veto on three objections: that the cut is small and wouldn't take effect until 2007; that he is proposing a 3-cent cut in the property tax rate for July 1; and that with costs rising, the combination of both cuts would be a "significant loss of revenue."

The Howard County Council approved a bill last night that would reduce the local property assessment cap from 5 percent to 4 percent in July 2007, despite a strongly worded last-minute veto threat from County Executive James N. Robey. The bill, suggested by western county Republican Charles C. Feaga and co-sponsored by two other members, passed on a 3-2 vote, one shy of the margin needed to override a veto. Robey's move was puzzling, said council Chairman Christopher J. Merdon, who said he first heard of it in a telephone message several hours before last night's voting session.

The two candidates vying to replace Democrat Sheila M. Tolliver as an Annapolis alderman will go before voters in one of the city's most economically and ethnically diverse wards Tuesday. Neither candidate in Ward 2 has held elected office, but Democrat Debbie Rosen McKerrow and Republican Michael I. Christman differ considerably in their style and their views on the issues. The ward that they hope to represent extends from the mansions of Admiral Heights to the public housing neighborhoods around Clay Street.

In what has become a January ritual, Anne Arundel County homeowners are fretting and complaining about a recent round of state assessments that drastically increased land values in northwestern neighborhoods once considered solidly middle class and affordable. Longtime homeowners worry about growing property tax bills while community leaders say skyrocketing home values - assessments rose an average of 48 percent over the past three years -have made many neighborhoods unaffordable for teachers, firefighters and police officers.

OCEAN CITY VOTERS go to the polls today with high taxes on their minds. Besides electing a mayor and town council, they'll be voting on whether to impose a strict new limit on property taxes. The problem with most tax caps is clear: They apply in good times or bad, without regard to natural or man-made disasters or other extenuating circumstances. They take away a government's financial flexibility and put much greater pressure on elected leaders to raise revenue from other potentially unpopular taxes and fees.

Members of Carroll County's all-Republican state delegation want feedback from their constituents before they decide whether to support a list of legislative requests submitted by the county commissioners, including the heavily debated proposal to levy a real estate transfer tax. A discussion about lowering the county's property assessment limit from 10 percent to 5 percent was also added to a list of legislative proposals to be discussed at tomorrow's public...

By the end of this month, Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens must submit a county budget that will be constrained by both a property tax cap and a recession. Employees are facing a year without any salary increases, open county positions may be eliminated and, as the county staff sorts through proposed levels of state funding, officials say that layoffs are possible. Owens' proposed budget is due May 1, two months before the beginning of the next fiscal year, and she is expecting at least a $10 million cut in state funding from her nearly $900 million operating budget.

Anne Arundel County residents - many of whom were facing higher property taxes because of a significant increase in local property values - may pay slightly less in taxes than they expected under an election-year rejiggering of a local tax credit program. County Council members used their last meeting before the Nov. 5 election to impose a 2 percent limit on the annual increase to homeowners' taxable assessment, down from the current 4 percent limit. Annapolis and Prince George's County are considering similar moves in response to a boom in local home values.

Two Annapolis aldermen will introduce a bill tomorrow that would limit - to 4 percent a year - the amount that an individual's property taxes can go up based on assessment increases. Aldermen Sheila M. Tolliver and Louise Hammond are pushing the Homestead Tax Credit Percentage bill, which Tolliver says is a way to address concerns that housing in Annapolis is becoming unaffordable. They say the measure would also encourage homeownership in an area with a lot of renters. "The city council can control the amount of tax burden and keep homes as affordable as possible," said Tolliver, who represents Ward 2. Every three years, the state assesses property values based on home improvements and recent sales; the next reassessment is expected to lead to major increases in assessments in many parts of Annapolis.

Candidates for Anne Arundel County executive laid out their plans last night for improving the county's school system, with challenger Phillip D. Bissett accusing incumbent Janet S. Owens of stressing school construction over books and other classroom supplies. The two met at a forum at Severna Park Middle School that was sponsored by the Greater Severna Park Chamber of Commerce and Greater Severna Park Council. It was also open to candidates for the General Assembly and for the District 5 seat on the County Council.