She introduced a proposal last year to raise the rate to pay for school construction.
Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater
Frederick, Md (KM) It may sound surprising, but many people who testified last year during a Frederick County Council public hearing on a proposal to increase the property tax rate spoke in favor. That’s according to County Executive Jessica Fitzwater, who was guest Thursday on WFMD”s “Morning News Express.”
Fitzwater proposed increasing the rate from $1.06 per $100 of assessed value to $1.11 per $100 of assessed value. She says the additional revenue would be used to upgrade aging school buildings. “The entirety of the increase is going to a specific fund to dedicate right to our aging school infrastructures, “she said.
The County Executive says these schools may be located in areas of the county not experiencing a lot of growth, but the county is still responsible for their upkeep.
The tax increase was enacted last year, and Fitzwater says it’s making a difference. “We now have local funding for design and planning for a new Brunswick High School which has been one of the top priorities of the community for many years,” she says. “We’ve been able to move forward by an entire year limited renovation projects at Twin Ridge Elementary in Mount Airy as well as Hillcrest Elementary. And we put that funding in to the Middletown Elementary Middle School project to make sure that can stay on Track.”
She says these projects may not quality for impact fees, which are imposed on developers to pay for the “impact” their residential building projects have on schools and libraries.
By Kevin McManus