Tax Cap

Anne Arundel County budget office projections show that property tax revenue increases might exceed those allowed under a voter-approved tax cap, raising the possibility that the tax rate for homeowners in the county might be cut. County Executive Janet S. Owens said she would not reveal whether she plans to propose a tax cut until Wednesday, when she is to submit her 2003 budget to the County Council. But budget officials say the current property tax rate of 96 cents per $100 of assessed value might be reduced for the coming budget year.

Top Baltimore officials traveled to Annapolis yesterday to urge legislators not to put stringent caps on a historic tax credit program that has greatly benefited the city. They told lawmakers the tax credit is too good to limit, and one went so far as to recommend canceling this year's planned state income tax cut to pay for it and other programs. The tax credit, which helps finance the rehabilitation of older buildings in historic areas, has soared in popularity in the past few years, at a potential cost to the state of $50 million to $84 million a year, according to the latest estimates by legislative analysts.

Attempts to revive downtown Baltimore's struggling west side could be jeopardized if state legislators put strict limits on an unexpectedly popular tax break for restoring old buildings, developers and city officials said yesterday. Maryland's 5-year-old historic tax credit program is a key piece of the financing puzzle for projects up, down and around North Howard Street. Lawmakers grappling with a budget deficit want to rein in the program because of its soaring cost. While projects across the city would be affected by the new restrictions, the cumulative effect on the fledgling west-side initiative would be detrimental, officials say. Developers can use the credits to cut their tax bills by an amount equal to 25 percent of the renovation costs.

It's still early, but County Executive Janet S. Owens says she is considering raising property taxes for the second year in a row, causing concern and "shell shock" among County Council members. "We are a conservative county, but I'm weighing what I'm allowed to do under the tax cap," Owens said. "I'm not ruling out the tax cap piece." Under the county's revenue cap, the maximum increase allowed would be about 1.6 cents per $100 of assessed value, based on the reconfigured tax rate of 96 cents per $100 of assessed value.

County tax cap lets citizens keep their funds Let the policians choose how much of my money to take? No thanks. In "Foes of tax cap to offer petition" (Aug. 14) a spokesman for County Executive Janet S. Owens claimed the eight-year-old tax cap has "deprived" the county of about $70 million. I'd rather believe county residents kept more of what they earned. The pro-tax group only wants to change one little word, a word that could, in some circumstances, allow the county to double or even treble the annual rate of increase in property taxes.

An unlikely coalition of business leaders, teachers groups and labor unions is mounting an aggressive bid to lift the lid on Anne Arundel County's 8-year-old tax cap, betting that voters will accept higher property taxes if it means better schools and improved services. Today, organizers of the volunteer-led effort plan to submit the 10,000 signatures needed to let voters decide in November whether to alter a provision that was added to the county charter in 1992. It limits growth in property tax revenue to 4.5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

To compete county must alter its revenue cap While I take a back seat to no one in affirming County Executive Janet Owens' compassion, I would respectfully suggest that competitiveness, not compassion, is motivating Ms. Owens to negotiate more generous contracts for county teachers, police officers and firefighters ("With county tax cap, who can afford nice?" column, April 9). The fact is that Anne Arundel County is losing its competitive edge. Already, 43 veteran police officers have left the county for greener pastures elsewhere and the county's starting pay for teachers ranks 18th among 24 Maryland jurisdictions.

NICE. Meet County Executive Janet S. Owens, and the word will surely come to mind. Too nice, you might think, to go through bitter contract negotiations that are best left to fighters who enjoy trench warfare. Too nice to tell police officers, fire fighters and other important county employees, "That's my final offer." And mean it. Ms. Owens is gentle, affable and compassionate. Those qualities have served her well during a banner first year in office. But taxpayers more concerned with cutting expenses than paying employees top dollar wouldn't want to send a Mother Teresa type to bargain against tough union negotiators, who are doing their job for members.

A RECENT Anne Arundel Community College poll found that most citizens are unaware of the county's tax cap. But the cap deserves their attention because some fine-tuning is needed. Voters passed the measure in 1992 to stop the county from raising property taxes by too much in a year. In many years over the past decade, the cap has limited tax increases to the rate of inflation -- rarely more than 4 percent. That low ceiling has slowly eroded the county's infrastructure and services. A number of school buildings are in a state of disrepair.

THE SPIRIT of compromise was absent in Anne Arundel County when the tax cap was debated at the start of this decade.Robert C. Schaeffer and his Anne Arundel Taxpayers Association scolded then-County Executive Robert R. Neall for "bad leadership" during debate on the issue in 1992. "The good guys won," Mr. Schaeffer gloated after the electorate voted in the cap.As the decade winds down, perhaps some welcome conciliation is on the way.During a forum convened last week by the West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce to reflect on the tax cap after seven years, Mr. Schaeffer praised the fiscal performance of Mr. Neall and another former county executive, John Gary.