New Budget Raises Property Tax

Montgomery County homeowners will pay higher property taxes under the budget formally adopted by the Montgomery County Council on Thursday.

The new property tax rate was set to 94.6 cents per $100 of assessed value, an increase of 4.2 cents per $100 --- not quite a much as outlined in prior versions of the budget. The council also voted to keep the property tax credit amount at $692.

The decision came as the Montgomery County Council formally adopted a $4.4 billion budget, closing a $300-million short fall a structural deficit. The council held separate votes with regard to raising taxes and maintaining the property tax credit. Councilman Phil Andrews (D-District 3) was the sole dissenter of the separate 8-1 votes.

“I think it would have been a better approach to keep the property tax rate at the current level and reduce to reduce the one time credit,” Andrews said Thursday.

Andrews said during the work session last week that he thought credits were reasonable when it doesn’t come at the expense of raising the property tax rate.

“Let’s not kid ourselves,” Andrews said at the work session. “We’re not going to see a proposal from the county executive to reduce that property tax rate based on his consistent approach, which has been to go in a different direction.”

Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At-large) said Thursday that taxpayers would get a “better deal” in the long-term and pointed out that the county’s decision to go with the higher rate would result in lower tax bills for 84 percent of homeowners in Montgomery County — homes with a with taxable values less than $678,571.

“If we had gone with the lower rate and the lower credit, your bill would have been higher,” Elric said.

County council vice president Roger Berliner (D-District 1) said he opposed the property tax issue, though he voted in favor of it.

“Notwithstanding my own view that I would have done this differently, it’s now time, in my opinion, to support this budget because it does reflect the will of our body, and I think the will of our body collectively was a good one.”

Council member Nancy Floreen (D-At-large) also said she agreed with Andrews. “But I’m going to support what’s before us today,” she said. “Let’s have a little reality check. We have no idea what we’re going to do next year, so let’s not presume that changes won’t occur.”