The Senior Property Tax Credit Review Committee presented its triennial evaluation to the Saint Mary's County Board of County Commissioners on March 4, 2008, concluding the program provides modest tax relief to qualifying older homeowners while producing manageable revenue impacts for the county.

The committee chair, Sandra Wheeler, told commissioners the program, which began in 2005, provides a credit to homeowners age 70 or older with adjusted gross income below $80,000. "The program offers property tax relief or a credit to our senior or older property owners," Wheeler said. The committee reported 869 participants over the first three years and calculated a total county cost of about $149,000 for that period, or roughly $57 per participant per year.

Committee member Barney Wheeler outlined the committee's financial modelling, which produced a range of projections through 2020 using different growth scenarios for applicants and different measures of county tax per property. The committee presented a best-case, average and worst-case revenue-loss projection; under the committee's "average case" (14.2 percent annual applicant growth and a mean county tax assumption) projected cumulative revenue loss to 2015 was described as several million dollars. The report recommended repeating the statutory review in three years to reassess trends.

Commissioners and staff discussed program mechanics and outreach. Wheeler and committee members said participation requires annual reapplication through the county treasurer's office; applicants must file their most recent state income tax form and verify primary residence. Wheeler provided an illustrative case showing a notional couple who qualified in 2007 would have saved about $88 that year and nearly $9,800 over 12 years if they remained eligible and continued to reapply.

County staff clarified enrollment and financial figures during question-and-answer: staff said the program has distributed roughly $100,000 per year on average across the earliest years when the larger counts are added, and that separate state homeowner assistance programs exist for lower-income owners. Commissioners asked staff to continue public outreach, as staff said the Office on Aging and treasurer's office publicize the program and mail application reminders to current participants each March.

The committee report also noted legal and administrative flexibility: county counsel confirmed the county ordinance and subsequent state action provide the county authority to adjust program implementation without new state legislation. The committee recommended maintaining the program and conducting the next formal review in three years.

The board thanked the committee for the report and agreed the review should be repeated in three years; no formal change to the ordinance or benefits was adopted at the meeting.