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Anne Arundel Council reviews expansion of county homeowners' property tax credit
Summary
The Anne Arundel County Council on Sept. 9 discussed Bill 65-25, an administration proposal to raise the county supplement’s assessed-value limit for the homeowner property tax credit from $350,000 to $400,000 and to adjust income thresholds.
The Anne Arundel County Council on Sept. 9 discussed Bill 65-25, an administration-sponsored amendment to the county supplement of the state's homeowners’ property tax credit program that would raise the assessed-value threshold for the local supplement from $350,000 to $400,000 and adjust income thresholds.
Administration fiscal analyst Ethan Hunt said the bill “amends the local supplement to the homeowner's property tax credit program, increasing the threshold on the assessment of the home value from 350 to $400,000,” and noted the measure was previously discussed and amended to adjust income thresholds. Brian Schenk, Financial Services Manager in the Office of Finance, told council members he prepared spreadsheets showing tax impacts and that the change would translate to a small per-property increase on the rest of the tax base. “It's about, 2¢ per thousand dollars of assessment,” Schenk said, adding for a $100,000 assessment the tax change equates to roughly $2 per year.
Councilmembers asked several clarifying questions about who the credit currently serves and whether the county may lawfully change income thresholds tied to state law. Councilmember Robbie said she had understood the county was bound to a $60,000 income cap established in state law but asked the Office of Law to confirm whether the county supplement can exceed that figure. Hunt and Office of Law staff said they would check state code and report back; Deputy County Attorney Laurie Blair Klausmeier participated in the discussion.
Members repeatedly raised policy trade-offs. Councilmember Picker said the credit historically targeted lower-income homeowners and warned that expanding income eligibility could extend the benefit to a much larger share of residents. Councilmember Smith and others argued that inflation and rising home values mean the cap set in 2007 no longer reaches the same households and that modest increases in the income threshold could restore the program’s original reach. Councilmember Ledbetter asked staff to explain the “tax increase presumed” column in the spreadsheet; Schenk said the column showed the annual gross tax increase for particular assessments and that the estimated figure in the table reflected the bill as currently amended.
Councilmembers also asked for additional analyses before moving forward, including: (1) whether the county can lawfully raise the income threshold independent of state action; (2) a comparison of the fiscal impact using the current $350,000 assessment cap versus the proposed $400,000 cap; and (3) the highest and lowest per-property increases likely under the proposal. Schenk said he could run the requested scenarios and pull an assessment file dated July 1 to identify extreme-case property impacts.
No formal vote or directive to finalize the bill was recorded in the work session; council members asked staff and Office of Law to return with statutory guidance and additional fiscal scenarios.
The council is expected to consider amendments and any legal clarifications at later meetings before any final vote.
