Published: September 03, 2008 09:20 am      

County set to hear from public on property tax cap

Commissioners hope to lower limit on property tax assessments to 7 percent from current 10 percent

CUMBERLAND — The Allegany County commissioners knew they’d receive some grief when they authorized the expansion of the county Bureau of Police and took away Sheriff David Goad’s road patrol and 14 deputies.

But they don’t want that to overshadow other initiatives on which they’re working. On Thursday, the public will have a chance to address one of those efforts at a hearing required by the Code Home Rule bill designed to lower the Homestead Tax Credit to 7 percent from 10 percent.

“Oh, yeah, I thought about it a lot,” said Commissioner Jim Stakem. “I was so frustrated. The sheriff’s issue is just one issue among many irons we have in the fire.”

The hearing is scheduled for the beginning of the public meeting at 11 a.m. at the County Office Complex on Kelly Road.

Stakem noted the possible sale of the Allegany County Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center and the lowering of the Homestead Tax Credit as two initiatives implemented to save county taxpayers’ money. The issue between Goad and the commissioners also was budget-related, Stakem said. Goad had averaged an annual budget overrun in excess of $125,000 and had declined to order his deputies to follow the commissioners’ modified county vehicle take-home policy in July.

“We know that everyone’s not reading everything and not listening to everything that was said,” said Commissioner Bob Hutcheson. “It was brought to our attention after we set the budget” that Allegany County was one of six Maryland counties to have the maximum 10 percent cap. Allegany is the only jurisdiction between Carroll and Garrett counties to have the 10 percent rate.

The issue came up at the commissioners’ April 17 public meeting, nearly six weeks before the adoption of the fiscal 2009 budget. Jerry Frantz, director of finance, said then the commissioners had committed themselves to lowering the cap on property tax assessments to 5 percent from 10 percent.

A downturn in the economy, along with figures provided by Frantz and his staff of accountants, showed the commissioners they had much more revenue to lose than they were previously aware. A 5 percent decrease would result in a net loss of more than $1.25 million in property tax revenue in the next fiscal year, Frantz said, while pointing out that property tax revenue “saved the day” for the fiscal 2008 budget.

Lowering the cap to 7 percent would allow some 15,163 property owners relief beginning in July 2009, when the new legislation would take effect. It also would allow the county some flexibility. If the economy rebounds, Hutcheson said the commissioners could consider dropping the rate to 5 percent.

“We hope to be able to go to 5 percent,” Hutcheson said. “We’ll have to see how it goes the next tax session. We’ll see how the economy is. I would hope that if we go to 7 (percent), we could at least stay at 7. We’ll watch our finances and watch where the money is spent.”

Any move the commissioners would authorize, he said, would be to “benefit the taxpayers.”

The county has until Nov. 15 to approve a new rate and notify the state Department of Assessments and Taxation to be in effect by July 1. One area of concern for the commissioners is the county’s seven municipalities. State officials told Frantz in a June 11 letter that those jurisdictions may set or alter, by law, the percentage they implement. Otherwise, that jurisdiction’s rate will be the same as Allegany County’s.

“We’re very aware of the high assessments,” said Stakem, who lives in Frostburg. “But the best we could do this year is 7 (percent). We just don’t know what’s down the road. We’d really be taking a chance if we went all the way to 5.”

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.