Tax Credit

Eight Maryland businesses approved for $34 million in tax credits for job creation from 2007 to 2010 failed to document their project or startup costs, a legislative audit of the state's economic development agency has found. An audit of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development released Tuesday also found that the agency had failed to recover a $250,000 investment in a technology company that moved out of state less than a year after getting a loan to create jobs in Maryland.

If James "Buzz" Cusack and his daughter, Kathleen Lyon, have their way, they'll be cutting ribbons by Christmas for a restored Senator Theatre that will preserve the original cinema and add three screens and a small restaurant. Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Tuesday that they would receive $300,000 in a 2012 Sustainable Communities Tax Credit — administered by the Maryland Historical Trust and known previously as the Historic Tax Credit — to rehabilitate the movie house, a North Baltimore landmark since 1939.

Frustrated by Maryland's high rate of health disparities, state leaders are proposing a new attack - one more commonly associated with economic development. Gov. Martin O'Malley's 2012-2013 budget will include funding to create Health Enterprise Zones, where doctors and community groups in areas with large health disparities, such as Baltimore, could add medical and support services for minorities. Tax credits and other financial incentives would be available to spur interest. The plan is designed to save lives and healthcare dollars, according to Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, who last summer formed a work group on disparities led by Dr. E. Albert Reece, dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development said Thursday that it had selected a Pittsburgh-based software company to build a website for auctioning state tax credits to insurance companies as part of a $70 million economic development initiative to support technology startups. DBED chose Grant Street Group to build the tax-credit auction site for the InvestMaryland program, which is a cornerstone of Gov. Martin O'Malley's economic development efforts. The goal of the auction, which will take place in March, is to raise a minimum of $70 million or up to $100 million.

The three letters to the editor published in the December 27 edition of The Sun dealing with the recent series on the Homestead Property Tax Credit lead me to believe that either I or the writers of these letters are totally out of touch with what is going on in America, not just in Baltimore and Maryland. Bob Price states that tax codes should be "...simple, straightforward methods to generate revenue fairly and transparently. " Amen to that. But then he proceeds with the position that to accomplish this: "Programs that legislators deem to be worthwhile and affordable should be reviewed as part of the budgetary process, and each program's funding should be increased, decreased or suspended depending on the value of the program and the ability of the government in any given year to fund the program.

As a lifelong resident of Baltimore City, I purchased a shell in Upper Fells Point in 1985 for $12,000 and borrowed $40,000 to restore it. I am a union bricklayer, so I also contributed hundreds of hours of uncompensated labor toward the restoration of my home. In the mid 1980s, Upper Fells Point was a distressed neighborhood; so few people of means lived there that hardly anyone had a car and I could park next to my house at any time of the day or night. In 1987, after I moved in with my sister, I used to joke about having a $100,000 house in a $40,000 neighborhood.

Your article "Distorted discount" (Dec. 18) made a good case for a full legislative review and revision of the Maryland Homestead Property Tax Credit. It would be hard to imagine a more Byzantine, distorted, unfair and unenforceable system of taxation. A quick look around my North Baltimore neighborhood reveals the following within three blocks of my home: Double dipping, absentee owners who have moved out of state and continue to get the credit, and renter-occupied houses that are getting the credit.

Commuter advocates and Maryland lawmakers say they will fight to renew an expiring tax credit that benefits mass-transit users, including MARC riders. Current federal law allows commuters to withhold up to $230 in pre-tax income each month that can be used to pay for train and bus fares, but the cap will fall to $125 a month next year because Congress didn't renew the more generous break. The difference means a 22 percent increase in commuting costs for some, which can translate into hundreds of dollars a year.

I must congratulate your reporters for their investigative report on property taxes that recently appeared in The Sun ("Distorted discount," Dec. 18). The fact that the reporters uncovered instances where multiple Homestead tax credits have been taken is an important finding. Why local taxing authorities cannot eliminate this problem boggles one's mind. It is not sufficient to say that this problem is difficult. It must be solved for the proper administration of Maryland's property tax laws.

Kudos to Jamie Smith Hopkins and Scott Calvert for their excellent investigative report on Homestead Property Tax Credit ("Distorted discount," Dec. 18). I always thought I was paying much more taxes than my neighbors. I went online, and saw for myself. Some of my neighbors are getting a whopping 46 percent credit for a house assessed $20,000 more than mine, while I get a measly 24 percent credit. I can't figure it out because I bought my house long before they did. I feel even worse for those of my neighbors who are getting no credit, and I know they can't afford the high taxes.