The Mayor and Board of Commissioners of the Town of Emmitsburg propose to increase real property taxes.

1. For the tax year beginning July 1, 2004, the estimated real property assessable base will increase by 2.9%, from $98,224,380 to $101,117,004.
    

2. If the Town of Emmitsburg maintains the current tax rate of $.36 per $100 of assessment, real property tax revenues will increase by 2.9% resulting in $10,413 of new real property tax revenues.
    

3. In order to fully offset the effect of increasing assessments, the real property tax rate should be reduced to $.35, the constant yield tax rate.
    

4. The Town of Emmitsburg is considering not reducing its real property tax rate enough to fully offset increasing assessments. The Town of Emmitsburg proposes to adopt a real property tax rate of $.36 per $100 of assessment. This tax rate is 2.9% higher than the constant yield tax rate and will generate $10,413 in additional property tax revenues.

A public hearing on the proposed real property tax rate increase will be held at 7:30 p.m. on June 7, 2004 at the Emmitsburg Town Office, 300A South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD.

The hearing is open to the public, and public testimony is encouraged.