This year’s overall county budget increases from $608 million to $637 for an almost 5% increase over last year. The good news is that the local economy on the whole is doing well and that is reflected in the increased revenues. The unfortunate news is that for some home and property owners, this can mean that because their homes and properties are increasing in value, the amount that they pay in taxes will also increase.

I supported what is called in budget jargon the ‘constant yield tax rate’, meaning that property taxes would be reduced on all homeowners so that the amount of property tax revenue coming into Frederick County would be the same as last year. The property tax rate would be decreased by an amount to correspond with the total increase in revenue coming from property increasing property values, so that the the county doesn’t just spend the additional tax revenue.

In the coming fiscal year, the county took in $3.8 million more in property tax revenue than last year. In order to maintain the amount of revenue received from property taxes, the County Council would have to lower the property tax rate. I am in favor of this reduction for a few reasons.

First, the County Council’s main duty under the Charter form of government is to reduce the budget proposed by the County Executive. Many people don’t realize it, but we don’t have the power to say for example, that we want to fund more Sheriff’s Deputies. Only the County Executive can add to the budget. Our responsibility is to find ways to reduce the budget as proposed.

Second, I am a believer that we must force government to operate more efficiently. The easy choice is to continue to let government grow. As in life, the things that agencies want always exceed the revenue to pay for them; it is a matter of prioritizing. I think reducing the growth in next year’s budget from $30 million to $26 million by reducing the property tax rate sends an important signal -- it is the signal that we simply won’t spend every penny of taxes that comes in.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this reduction would have put the county residents on the path for lower property tax bills. It would have stopped the tax penalty paid by homeowners when their values increase.

Unfortunately, the property tax rate reduction did not pass the County Council this year, meaning that the property tax bill for some owners will increase. As part of my philosophy, I will continue to look for efficiencies in government and try to prevent residents from shouldering an increased tax burden.

I should say that the budget passed unanimously. The budget does a lot of good things. It funds needed teacher salaries, and I think spending the money in the classroom is where the money should be spent. It funds additional Sheriff’s Deputies to respond to increasing service calls. It funds additional emergency responders and new park facilities. It is my belief contention though, that we could have accomplished all of these objectives and still provided some measure of tax relief.