La Plata moves to ‘control own destiny' on tax credit

Town preparing homestead cap authority change

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Currently the town defaults to Charles County's 7 percent homestead property tax rate, said Daniel Mears, town manager. The homestead tax credit program, enacted in 1977, protects residential property owners from large tax increases on their primary residences when property values appreciate very rapidly, he said, by capping increases in individual tax bills at 7 percent per year.

The La Plata Town Council introduced the legislation at Tuesday's meeting and is set to adopt a 7 percent homestead property tax rate at the Nov. 24 meeting at town hall.

The state has capped the rate at 10 percent, according to the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. State law requires that county and municipal governments set a homestead credit percentage between 0 percent and 10 percent.

La Plata has not taken any action to set the homestead property tax rate in town since the program was enacted, Mears said. If the county were to take action to change the amount of its rate the town's would change as well, he said.

In Maryland, the average cap is 7.6 percent, Mears said.

When the La Plata Town Council adopts its own homestead property tax rate the town will not be subject to future changes the county might decide to take, Mears said.

"There will be no change for how the homestead property tax credit program is administered in La Plata," he said. "It simply puts control of the homestead tax credit cap in the hands of La Plata's elected body."

"The purpose of doing this is not to change the rate but for us to have control over it," said Ward 4 Councilman Joe Norris. "Unless we take action, whatever the county does we have to do."

"We just want to stand on our own two feet," said Ward 1 Councilman Wayne Winkler. "It's nothing against the county. We just want to be in control of our own destiny."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com