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Finance director: College Park on track midyear; recommends keeping homestead tax credit at 0% cap
Summary
City finance director reported stronger‑than‑expected midyear revenues, recommended maintaining a 0% homestead tax credit cap for FY 2026, and said staff will produce guides and a short video explaining homestead, homeowners and senior tax credits.
City Finance Director Bill Fields told the College Park City Council on Jan. 20 that the city’s finances are tracking well at the mid‑point of fiscal 2025 and recommended keeping the city’s homestead tax credit cap at 0% for FY 2026.
Fields framed the discussion around timing differences in municipal accounting and highlighted revenue categories where the city is ahead of the 50% midyear benchmark, including real property and income taxes. On the homestead tax credit he said, “the homestead tax credit, we believe we can leave at 0 the 0% cap,” and added that maintaining the 0% cap provides the most benefit to residential homeowners.
Why it matters: The homestead tax credit limits assessment increases for eligible owner‑occupied homes and can change the city’s property tax burden distribution. Fields said that, if the council takes no action, the credit will remain at the current 0% cap; to change it the city would need to notify the county by the county’s deadline.
Additional steps: Fields said he and the communications director will prepare a short video and website materials to help residents understand how to apply for homestead, homeowners and senior tax credits. He also said staff can provide a breakdown of the number of properties receiving the homestead credit and will investigate cross‑referencing the list of homestead recipients with the city’s rental registration list if the council requests that analysis.
Council questions: Council members asked for data on how many properties receive the homestead credit and how many recipients are rental properties in practice; Fields said staff will check State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) records and provide follow‑up numbers. The council discussed possible coordination between the homestead credit lists and the city’s rental property registration data to identify ineligible recipients.
