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Senator McCrae proposes higher tax rate on long‑vacant nonprofit properties to spur reuse
Summary
Senate Bill 550 would authorize local jurisdictions to impose a higher property tax rate on nonprofit‑owned parcels that have remained vacant or unimproved for five consecutive years. Sponsor said the measure targets long‑term vacancies that depress neighborhood values and that local governments would define vacancy and significant improvement.
Sen. Cory McCrae told the Ways and Means Committee that Senate Bill 550 is an enabling tool to give local governments the authority to apply a higher property tax rate to nonprofit‑owned parcels that have remained vacant or have not received “significant improvements” for five consecutive years.
McCrae described a block in Baltimore City where multiple adjacent parcels owned by a nonprofit organization sat vacant for decades. He said the parcels were taxed at nominal amounts—“about a hundred dollars a…
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