Reply to MoCo ballot - Why is the language of Q.A and Q.B so complicated?

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Reply to "MoCo ballot - Why is the language of Q.A and Q.B so complicated?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The current way of calculating revenue from property taxes is based on past revenue, not the tax rate.  Question A is changing it so that it's based on the tax rate instead, making it more straightforward for the County Council to increase your property taxes every year (compounding).  Question B seeks to limit the amount of property taxes that can increase from year to year.  If the County Council can't grow the local economy more than the rate of inflation, then they shouldn't be able to increase our property taxes more than the rate of inflation either.  It's confusing because Elrich and the County Council want you to think no read it, think it's a binary choice between A/B, and choose A.  A means enabling the County Council to tax more, while B sets limits.  B still means your taxes will be higher year after year, but it goes up at a slower rate compared to A.  I like lower taxes, so I like B.  [/quote]

No.  The current charter limit forces the Council to lower the property tax rate every year.  Then every several years they unanimously override the limit, because a continually lowering rate in a county with rising property values is not sustainable if you want good public services.  Question B prohibits the Council from overriding the limit, ever, so the rate will just continue to go down.  That is why Ike Leggett, Connie Morella and David Blair have joined together to oppose it.  It is Tea Party idiocy.[/quote]

Right now, property assessments increase and tax rate can fluctuate up or down, but the two of them together lead to a net increase of your property tax bill every year.  If you pass A, it means both assessments AND tax rate increase every year, compounding the yearly increase.  It means your tax bill rises even faster than it does right now.  [/quote]

You're not accurately characterizing the difference between the current situation and the situation if A passes.

First of all, you're assuming the council will vote to increase property taxes beyond the caps imposed in the charter.  That, by the way, requires a unanimous vote, both under the current charter, and under Question A.  In either case, the council can raise property taxes as they see fit, provided they can get a unanimous vote of the council-members.  So there's not really a difference if you assume the council will override the cap.

The difference is if you don't override the cap.  Under the current property tax limit, on average, your property tax bill will increase roughly on par with inflation.  If you pass Question A, your property tax bill will increase based on the assessed value of your home.

Since housing costs are increasing a little faster than inflation, it's probably fair to expect your property taxes to increase a little faster if Question A passes. But the difference will not be dramatic.  And it's questionable that it would really have any lasting impact at all, since it's probably the case either way that the council will override the cap from time-to-time, cancelling out any differences anyway.[/quote]

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