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Council committee rescinds prior edits and gives administration a year to implement conservation-district tax credit
Summary
The Housing & Community Development Committee voted to rescind prior amendments to the conservation-districts bill and approved an amendment giving the administration 365 days after mayoral signature to staff the office and identify funding for a new tax credit program.
The Baltimore City Council’s Housing & Community Development Committee voted to rescind earlier committee amendments to a bill creating conservation districts and to approve language that gives the administration one year to set up program staffing and determine funding for an associated tax credit.
The committee convened under Chair James Torrance to consider City Council Bill 25-0003 (conservation districts). Jeff Hochsteller of the law department advised the committee on the technical steps needed to recall prior amendments. Councilman Glover moved to rescind the previous amendments; the motion passed unanimously.
After rescission, the committee considered a technical amendment (identified in the record as an amendment from CHAP) to add a one-year implementation window. The amendment replaces a thirty-day timing reference with a 365‑day (one‑year) window to allow the mayor’s administration to staff the office and finalize funding arrangements for the credit. The amendment passed on a unanimous committee vote.
Chair Torrance and council members said the one‑year delay intends to give the administration time to complete a 10‑year financial plan review and to bring forward a revenue plan for any new tax-credit program. The chair described the change as shifting the administrative burden to the executive branch while allowing the measure to move forward in its original form.
The committee voted to advance the bill, as amended, to a second reading in the full council. Committee votes recorded on the floor were unanimous in favor of rescission, of the one‑year amendment, and of advancing the bill.
