Property Tax Increased for Montgomery County

The Montgomery County Council voted this week to raise the property tax for a third consecutive year, Council Member Phil Andrews said in a statement.

According to a council statement on the budget, "[because] property assessments still reflect the impact of the recession, the weighted property tax rate will increase by 1.8 cents" for every $100 of assessed value of the property, starting on July 1, 2013, the first day of the 2014 fiscal year.

That means that the property tax for fiscal year 2014 will be $1.009 for every $100 of assessed property. For fiscal year 2013, it was $0.991 for every $100 of assessed value, Montgomery County Council spokesperson Neil Greenberger explained to Patch. (The state assesses properties every three years.)

The increase represents a cumulative increase of nearly 12 percent from the 2012-2014 fiscal cycle, Andrews said.

"These increases more than wipe out the 10 percent reduction in the property tax rate that I fought for and that the Council approved between 2004-2006 (FY05-07)," Andrews said.

"With property values now rising, the property tax rate increases of the past three years will burden many County homeowners, particularly those on fixed incomes. Landlords will pass the additional cost along to renters," Andrews added.

Instead, Andrews says that the council "should have ... reduced the FY14 income tax offset credit [a property tax credit for owner-occupants of principal residences, according to a council statement] from $692 to $578 per household ... as Councilmembers Berliner and Floreen joined me in supporting on May 15."

The owner-occupant property tax credit for the last fiscal year was also $692, Greenberger told Patch.

Do you agree with Andrews? Should the property tax have stayed the same while the income tax offset credit was decreased? Tell us in the comments.