The County Council has cut the tax rate on residential real property from 1.082 to 1.062 per $100 of assessed value for Fiscal Year 2010. This cut of ~1.8% amounts to a budget cut of about $7M. This is because they saw how angry you were at the Tea Parties and the Rallies held at the Council Chambers!
This is a small victory for us, but it is important to remember that taxes are still increasing this year. Because the taxes that you pay are dependent upon the assessed value of your property AND the tax rate, even when the rate is cut by very small amount, your taxes will still increase. I repeat, your taxes are increasing even though the rate is decreased slightly.
Please recognize the difference between RATE and actual taxes. The County Executive had the option to accept the same revenue as last year, but instead he opted to increase our taxes. While the County Council adopted a lower tax rate, it is still a net tax increase from last year.
We won't let them pass the buck anymore. The assessments are set by the State of MD, but the County sets the rate. No longer will we sit idly by while they increase spending by millions of dollars per year.
There is a bill on the Council agenda (to be voted on July 14!) that will set a lower on the amount that our primary residence taxes can increase. Currently it is 9% per year. The bill calls for this cap to be set 5%. Let's support this, but still call for decreased spending in the County Government!
