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Delegate Long presents package of election-security and property-tax bills for Baltimore County
Summary
Delegate Long introduced multiple measures aimed at election security and tax relief — a signature-verification pilot for absentee ballots, senior property-tax exemptions, transfer-tax relief for first-time buyers and homestead-credit changes — drawing repeated county opposition based on projected revenue loss and implementation limits.
Delegate Long used the delegation’s bill-hearing period to present a cluster of measures he said are intended to secure elections and provide tax relief for Baltimore County homeowners and first-time buyers.
On HB 581 (absentee ballot signature verification), Long said Baltimore County has machines capable of checking signatures on absentee envelopes and proposed a pilot to verify incoming absentee ballots. Delegates asked about practical implementation and exemptions for overseas military voters. County elections staff responded that Baltimore County currently "is unable to do this" because it would require syncing local voter records with the state registration system to match signatures; the county said existing absentee processes already include signature review and curing procedures but that the proposed machine-based verification could not be deployed immediately without state-system linkage.
On HB 579 (property-tax partial exemption and credits for seniors), Long said the bill would lower assessed value by $50,000 for qualifying seniors to keep them in their homes; county officials opposed the mandatory state-level mandate, warning of a significant fiscal impact. County testimony cited that approximately 19.1% of the county population is age 65 or older and estimated a roughly $44,000,000 property-tax revenue loss if the exemption were applied broadly based on the county’s population figures.
On HB 602 (transfer-tax exemption for first-time homebuyers), Long argued the exemption would help first-time buyers amid high interest rates; county witnesses cited a DLS estimate that about 25% of transactions could be first-time buyers and reported title-transfer revenue (about $79,000,000 in a recent fiscal year) as a reason to oppose a mandatory exemption. During the hearing delegates and counsel referenced Tax-Property §13-203(b), which sets a reduced transfer tax rate for qualifying first-time buyers and indicates the transfer tax is paid by the seller.
Long also presented HB 603 (homestead property tax credit percentage) and reiterated his request that the county consider tax relief; county staff again emphasized revenue consequences and autonomy concerns. Delegates suggested exploring enabling language, pilot options or subcommittee work to narrow scope and lessen fiscal impact.
What’s next: Delegates and county staff agreed to continue conversations offline and to consider the matters further in subcommittee, with some legislators urging pilot programs or enabling-language alternatives instead of mandatory county-wide mandates.
