The panel held a hearing on this issue on Tuesday, but few people testified.
Frederick, Md (KM) The setting of the property tax rate for fiscal year 2024 by the Frederick County Council is expected to take place on May 23rd.
A hearing was held on Tuesday on whether to keep the rate at $1.06 per $100 of assessed value, or decrease to the constant yield at $1.01 per $100 of assessed value. The County Executive’s proposed fiscal year 2024 budget is based on keeping the current tax rate at $1.06 per $100 of assessed value.
Ed Skoder, who testified on Tuesday, asked that the current property tax rate remain in place. “Over the past three years, my home value has appreciated 36.5 percent. That’s because Frederick County is a desirable place to live and raise a family,:” he said. “During the same time, my property taxes using the constant rate have gone up 11 percent.”
But Skoder doesn’t think this is necessarily bad news. “I think it’s a bargain given our schools, our quality of life, trails, all the other things that have been done by the County Council over the past eight years,” he said.
But Brent Simmons of Monrovia testified in favor of setting the property tax at the constant yield. “In the last years, the fund balance which is where extra funding the county has received, has increased by $143 million, mainly due to excess taxes that the county has received,” he said.
Simmons says some of that money hasn’t been spent wisely. “$30 million for new county building; $2.6 million to Frederick City for a new hotel; and $22 million dollars allocated for new Middletown schools which while in and of itself is a good thing, that’s been prioritized over schools like Brunswick that are in disrepair,” he said.
If the Council adopts the constant yield rate, it would take in as much revenue in fiscal year 2024 as it currently collects in fiscal year 2023. Fiscal year 2024 begins on July 1st, 2023.
By Kevin McManus