An advisory panel has recommended that Maryland lawmakers reject a property tax increase for the coming year.
Maryland Matters reports the Commission on State Debt recommended holding the rate on commercial and residential properties at 11.2 cents per $100 in assessed value. The decision came in a 10-minute meeting held on Friday with the panel’s chairman, State Treasurer Dereck Davis, pointing to “difficult, trying times” for Maryland homeowners.
“The past few weeks and months have been stressful and busy but productive for the state,” said Davis.
The panel also recommended maintaining the property tax rate on utilities at 28 cents per $100 of assessed value. Maryland’s rates for commercial, residential and utility have not changed since 2007.
The commission meets annually to recommend the state property tax rates, which are then acted upon by the Board of Public Works, chaired by the governor. The state is projected to take in more than $1 billion in property taxes this year and the commission is projecting property tax revenues to exceed $1.1 billion next year. The budget introduced by Gov. Wes Moore did not include property tax increases while the legislature’s final version raised other taxes but did not increase property taxes.
