Three People Testify During Property Tax Hearing Before The Frederick County Council

They called for lowering the property tax rate.Frederick, Md (KM) Only three people testified Tuesday night before the Frederick County Council on the property tax. They asked that the current rate of $1.11 per $100 of assessed value be lowered.Doug Scheinhart is an owner of Tree Trekkers. “When we got our reassessment two months ago for the property. we were shocked to find out that we’re double what I thought I was worth,” he said with a slight chuckle in his voice. “I’m hoping that we soften the blow and lower the tax rate.”That request also came from Ashley Schweinhart, a co-owner of Tree Trekkers. She said it’s become expensive to live in Frederick County. “My business is in Frederick, but I can’t afford to own a home in Frederick. I’m priced out,:” Ashley Schweinhart said,. “There’s a lot of talk about ALICE, rightfully so. But there’s this gap of working class, middle class, small businesses. There’s no plan for them.”ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.The County is not planning to raise the tax rate for fiscal year 2026. But Ashley Schweinhart said that even if the tax rate is not going up,  property assessments have increased.”I have friends that are looking at moving out of this county. They’ve been here their whole lives, multi-generations,” she said. “It’s two nurses with two kids. When they bought their house, it was $300,000. I think it’s over $600,000 now. They’ve already used their homestead tax credit. They can’t afford to live here.””Tony Chechia, who has been a real estate broker since 1989, says the county needs to diversify its tax base. Right now, he says, Frederick County receives 78 percent of its tax revenue from the residential side, and 22 percent from the commercial side. There needs to be a balance. “One of the things that we could strive to achieve is by increasing the tax base in our commercial and industrial districts. It will allow the county to reach that balance so our residential property taxpayers are not so burdened,” he said.The Council is excepted to vote on a property tax rate for fiscal year 2026 at a future date.By Kevin McManus