Rising Sun keeps FY2024 real estate tax rate at 0.46; adopts FY2024 budget

The Town of Rising Sun on June 13 voted to keep the FY2024 real estate tax rate at 0.46 per $100 of assessed value and adopted the annual budget.

Town Administrator Bonenberger told the commissioners that the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation certified an increase in the town’s assessable base to $222,075,885, a $9,258,252 increase over the prior year. He said maintaining the current rate of 0.46 would result in roughly $42,588 of additional real property tax revenue due to the higher assessments; the constant-yield calculation provided by the state suggested a rate of 0.4408 would preserve prior-year revenue totals.

Bonenberger outlined factors behind the recommendation to hold the rate steady, including rising costs for services such as trash collection (which staff said experienced a 38% cost increase) and the town’s comparatively lean reserves. He summarized a seven-year comparison of tax burden and assessed values across local towns and said Rising Sun remains among the lower tax-rate municipalities in Cecil County while providing services such as daily police patrols and weekly trash collection.

During public comment, resident Skip (recorded for the minutes at 36 West Cherry Street) urged keeping the rate unchanged to avoid shifting costs to long-term residents as new development occurs. The town attorney reminded the commissioners they must adopt a tax rate before the start of the fiscal year; legal preparations were complete.

After the public hearing staff presentation, the board moved and seconded a motion to adopt Resolution 20-23-09 maintaining the rate at 0.46. The commission adopted the resolution by voice vote; the record does not include individual roll-call tallies. The board also considered and approved Resolution 20-23-10, the FY2024 budget, which staff said shows a roughly $5,203 projected surplus in the general fund and modest surpluses in proprietary funds.