(6/2019) Over 1000 Frederick residents – 504 families – just lost their homes under the current tax rate property sale as of May 10th, 2019. How many were of long-time Frederick County families whose farms or homes had relatively minor tax liens whose owners qualified for assistance should the County have offered that to them instead of taking their homes they worked for all
their lives? 1000 or more residents lost their homes this year. We can do better for our hardworking County families who may have fallen on some hard times even while finally finding the jobs they need to catch up on bills.
With a growing County budget of $637.7 million for fiscal 2020, it appears there is opportunity for County leadership to come to agreement with Councilmen Dacey and McKay for a savings approach in the use of the increased revenues from the past two years. In 2019 the County experienced a windfall increase of over $14.9 million in additional property tax revenues over the prior year. In 2020,
the proposed budget shows a whopping $18.4 million windfall increase in property tax collections – a 5.81% increase over the previous year, which was already nearly 4.95% increase over the year before that. These amazingly profitable windfall revenues for the County from the resident property owners from just the last two years – a total of $33.3 million dollars in additional, increased property
tax revenues – should be used to ease the financial burdens of the taxpayers and property owners of Frederick County. Frederick County is richer when its taxpayers can keep their homes and jobs and stay here.
It is clear to me that with an additional $33.3 million surplus in property tax collections in the County coffers over the last two years, with an annual budget this year of over $637 million, the miniscule $3.8 million in budget savings proposed by Councilmen Dacey and McKay in order to provide relief from rising property tax assessments are rationally-based and exactly what the voters of
Frederick County demand.
An aspect of the County tax sales that also needs to be considered is that whenever the County takes a property from an owner, whether for $100 or $1000 or more in taxes owed, it is usually displacing multiple residents, causing homelessness to increase and public services to be burdened, all while losing the long-term benefit of a County property tax payer whose home ownership itself will
help that person improve their financial status once they obtain new employment or get through whatever else was the cause of the temporary hardship.
Why is there not a concerted effort to use the annual windfall of millions to help provide tax relief to temporarily needy homeowners, in order to help reduce the annual tax sale takings?
For instance, last year’s tax sale assessment home values were $109.7 million, but the actual tax sale collections on those properties brought in only $782,000 – a measly amount compared to the long-term millions of lost revenue the County is experiencing by displacing County residents.
Taking the approach of Councilmen Dacey and McKay and reducing spending by an easily accessible $3.8 million or more, and then using the Constant Yield Property Tax Rate, would not only reduce the property tax burden of thousands of County residents – likely saving
hundreds of homes from tax sale, it would also create a growth incentive in real property wealth that would strengthen the fiscal foundation of Frederick County home owners, and thus the County itself. When a homeowner can invest in their home’s improvement instead of losing their home over a couple hundred dollars, the property values of all County residents are protected.
I respectfully point out in support of their work, that the proposed County budget for 2020 has massive change increases in multiple categories some of which total over 65% increases from last year’s budget. These major percentage increases in General Fund expenditures of millions, such as the FCPS $12 million bonus over the normal budget, are unnecessary at this time. This is because my
colleagues and I in the State Delegation just voted for and obtained a major Kirwan educational windfall funding this year for Frederick County Public Schools to raise teacher salaries and provide General Fund revenue increases, in addition to the Governor’s release of millions in "lock-box" funds for school construction. Surely in a year with Kirwan money now coming to Frederick County, we need
not overspend the General Fund revenues with a $12 million bonus when property owners are losing their homes.
It would seem to be a win-win and I would support such a decision so long as property tax relief also is included for all County property owners.
