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Committee backs amendment allowing Hagerstown sports facility to enter payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements
Summary
The Ways and Means Committee passed amendments allowing the Hagerstown multi-use sports and events facility to enter into payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements with local governments and removed provisions related to a county economic development tax credit.
April 3, 2025 — The Ways and Means Committee voted favorably, as amended, on a measure that authorizes the Hagerstown multi-use sports and events facility to enter into payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements with local governments and removes provisions relating to a county economic development tax credit.
Delegate Wells presented the amendments and said they would remove provisions tied to the county economic development tax credit and authorize the facility to enter into a PILOT agreement. On the floor, Delegate Wells moved the amendments: “And 2, authorize the Hagerstown multi use sports and events facility to enter into a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with local governments. Move the amendment.”
During committee discussion a member described the change as resolving a mismatch between House and Senate language related to a Hagerstown baseball/multi-use stadium project. That speaker said the state had invested in the project and framed the amendment as necessary to avoid losing an asset; on the record the speaker said, “the state invested $7,585,000,000 dollars and cannot operate really essentially without this type of, property tax agreement,” and later referred to “we just sunk $85,000,000 into a hole.” Those numbers appear in the transcript as spoken on the record and were presented by a committee member during discussion.
The committee adopted the amendments by voice vote and then voted the bill favorably as amended. The clerk announced, “Senate Bill 5 96 passes favorably as amended.”
The amendments remove the county economic development tax-credit provisions and explicitly permit the Hagerstown facility to negotiate PILOTs with local governments. The committee record shows supporters framed the change as conforming House and Senate language and addressing a financing/operations concern for the Hagerstown project. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally for the vote; the motion was approved by voice vote.
