Friday, February 13, 2009
Legislation Would Shift Property Tax Burden to Business
Maryland Chamber Vice President of Government Affairs Ron Wineholt urged members of the House Ways & Means Committee to oppose legislation that would further shift property tax burdens to business property by lowering assessment caps for owner-occupied residential properties.
Wineholt outlined the Maryland Chamber’s opposition to two bills:
- HB 156 would lower the annual assessment cap on owner-occupied residential property from 10 percent to five percent for state property taxes.
- HB 188 would freeze the assessments of owner-occupied residential properties for one year starting July 1, 2009, eliminate assessment phase-ins, and institute an annual property assessment system.
The homestead property tax credit already shifts $1 billion in property taxes toward businesses. In some counties as much as one-quarter of their assessable base is untaxed by virtue of this credit.
The fiscal note for HB 188 points out that, by repealing the phase-in of assessment increases, the bill would cause 688,000 properties across the state, the majority being commercial properties, to be taxed July 1, 2009 at their full market value. This would cause these properties to pay an additional $202 million in property taxes for fiscal year 2010.
“The Maryland Chamber believes these bills are unfair, unconstitutional, and ill-advised at a time when many businesses are struggling to survive in this difficult economy,” Wineholt said. “It would be unfair to compound the current tax discrimination with a further tax burden on Maryland businesses.”
For more information, contact Ron Wineholt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
