Board reverses position on tax rate hike

Richard D. L. Fulton

(4/8)"It’s very difficult to explain to people that raising the tax rate is not raising your taxes." - Sister Eleanor Casey (who supports the tax rate hike).

The Emmitsburg Board of Commissioners backtracked on seeking a potentially, dramatically reduced budget for 2013 at their April 2 meeting, and now appear to be leaning towards implementing an increase in the real estate tax rate.

The board of commissioners had directed town staff at their March 19 meeting to produce a draft budget that would cut town expenditures by potentially $140,000, a cut that would translate into property owners not seeing a tax rate increase in 2013.

In fact, if the proposed slashed budget was to have been pursued, it would have meant most of the town’s tax payers would have paid less in real estate taxes in 2012 as well.

However, at their first meeting in April, commissioners expressed concerns that not raising the tax rate for 2013 could stymie public projects, such as road paving and other town improvements, and would likely mean a higher tax rate increase down the road to compensate in any event.

Board President Christopher V. Staiger, who had supported the preparation of next year’s initial draft budget based on not raising the tax rate, turned against the concept. "I’m starting to buy into maintaining the revenue (current level) we need by adopting the tax increase."

Regarding using the reserve funds to plug holes created by any proposed budget slashes, he said, "We‘re really hitting the bottom of the barrel." He noted raising the tax rate to maintain the current levels on incoming revenue seemed necessary to "maintain the current standard of living" in the community.

Mayor Donald N. Briggs said the town was in a "Back to the Future" situation, and that if the board averted a tax rate hike now, "next time it might really have to go up."

The request to produce a budget slash stemmed from discussion generated by the state’s recent constant yield rate for Emmitsburg which claimed that the town had a net, assessed real property base of $168,149,433.

The state Department of Assessments and Taxation reported that, as a result of that real property base amount, the town could expect $717,107 in revenue if it established a tax rate of 0.4265 cents per $100 of assessed real estate value. The current tax rate is 0.36 cents per $100 worth of real estate.

The values of properties in Emmitsburg dropped an average of 18 percent in value as a result of the reassessment. Because of the reduced value of the properties, the anticipated revenue would not really increase with a tax hike. The increase would simply maintain the amount of incoming revenue from real estate taxes at the current level, and most local taxpayers wouldn’t really see an increase in their tax bill.

Commissioner Patrick Joy voted against directing the town staff to prepare a budget incorporating the tax rate increase, and was the sole commissioner voting against the directive.

The town staff will be presenting the preliminary budget in May.