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Commissioners debate reducing homestead tax credit and expanding senior relief during budget priorities discussion
Summary
During the Dec. 16 budget work session commissioners proposed reducing the 3% homestead tax credit to 2.5% (estimated ~$1.1M in the snapshot), expanding senior tax credits, and targeting outreach to homeowners not claiming homestead exemptions.
During the commissioners' priority-setting segment, several commissioners raised options to target property-tax relief and to adjust the county's homestead and senior tax-credit programs.
One commissioner (Speaker 3) proposed decreasing the Homestead Tax Credit from 3% to 2.5% as a way to modestly reduce growth of the taxable assessment, saying, "I'd also like to see us decrease the homestead tax credit from 3% to 2.5%. If I have my arithmetic right, that's gonna be a cost of about $1,100,000." The same commissioner argued seniors on fixed incomes are particularly exposed to assessment-driven tax growth and recommended the board consider increasing targeted senior property-tax credits instead of broad homestead relief.
Commissioners also noted outreach opportunities: Speaker 3 cited SDAT data indicating roughly 12,654 St. Mary's County primary-residence owners were not claiming the homestead credit and suggested focused outreach and cross-checking with veteran exemptions to close that gap.
Why it matters: Changes to the homestead cap or senior credit thresholds would shift tax burdens across property owners and could be a tool to help seniors and first-time homebuyers, but would reduce county revenue under current assumptions. Commissioners requested more analysis on fiscal impacts and distributional effects before making a policy choice.
What's next: Staff will return with more detailed fiscal modeling, distributional analysis and cost estimates for commissioner review ahead of budget hearings.
