St. Mary’s County staff outlines $3 million revenue risk from proposed House Bill 184; commissioners discuss local options

St. Mary’s County officials told the Board of Commissioners on Feb. 9 that House Bill 184, as drafted for St. Mary’s County, would eliminate most personal property tax except for public utilities and could reduce county revenues by roughly $3 million a year.

County Chief Financial Officer Elaine Kramer summarized the draft bill and the county memo attached to the meeting package, saying the draft would first exempt newly acquired personal property and then phase out all personal property taxation except utilities. Kramer told commissioners the county’s FY2015 budget shows personal property revenue lines that total about $3.1 million but that she used a conservative rounded figure of $3,000,000 for illustration.

The memo presented by Kramer explained how the revenue loss could be replaced only by either sharply higher real‑property assessments, other tax increases or equivalent cuts in spending. Kramer calculated that to offset a $3 million loss at…