An unnamed St. Mary's County commissioner on Tuesday raised concerns that the Town of Leonardtown's annexation of county land and its practice of not charging the countyexcise tax on new construction could deprive the county of substantial revenue.

The commissioner said a resident on Blacksmith Road told him Leonardtown plans to annex property now in St. Mary's County and allow a large housing development — the speaker alternately referenced figures of "215 or 275" homes — that would not be subject to county septic limits because the town provides sewer. "Leonardtown does not charge the excise tax," the commissioner said, calling that "not fair" to residents elsewhere in the county who pay roughly $6,700 more per house because of the county fee.

The commissioner placed the issue in the context of a county policy change: "In 2023, 07/01/2023, the county went from an impact fee to an excise tax," he said, adding the excise tax funds public safety, schools, recreation and roads. He warned that if Leonardtown allows the projected development without collecting the county fee, the county could miss "$7 to $8,000,000" in revenue over time, and that since July 1, 2023 the unpaid amount has "come to just under 200,000," according to his remarks.

He also contrasted how Leonardtown charged the county when the county built facilities in town: the commissioner said the town charged the county about $426,000 plus impact fees when the county renovated the jail, and nearly $120,000 in impact fees for the library and the Garvey Center.

The commissioner said property taxes from new houses do flow to the county and support schools, noting "there's over 1,000 kids from the town of Leonardtown that attend our schools," but he maintained the excise tax exemption for in-town permits remains an inequity that must be addressed.

He urged fellow commissioners to meet with Leonardtown officials to "understand their reasoning" and "work it out," but the transcript records no formal vote or directive on the matter during this session.

Details that the commissioner cited are reported as he stated them in the meeting; some numeric references were imprecise in the remarks (for example, the developerhome-count figures and prior totals were reported as alternates or approximations and are described here as the commissioner presented them).