Leggett Amends Budget Proposal to Reduce Property Tax Increase (VIDEO)

UPDATED Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett today amended his 2017 budget to the County Council to reduce his proposed property tax increase by 46 percent following the announcement by Governor Larry Hogan that he will allow to become law a Maryland General Assembly bill that extends the repayment schedule for counties to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wynne decision.

For more, watch the County Report This Week video, below.

“My initial proposed operating budget includes $50 million to cover Wynne case costs,” said Leggett. “I promised our State Delegation that if they passed legislation that would extend the back payments to the State I would reduce my property tax increase request. They have delivered, I have amended my proposed budget to reflect the savings from that legislation, and I recommend to the Council that reduction. The timing of credits to the affected taxpayers will not be delayed. I want to thank the sponsors of the bill, Senators Rich Madaleno and Cheryl Kagan, and all the other members of our State delegation who worked hard to ensure passage of this legislation.”

According to a county news release, the legislation, Senate Bill 766, saves Montgomery County $33 million for the upcoming year, reducing the Wynne costs to $17 million.

Reducing the property tax increase from 3.9 cents per $100 assessed valuation to 2.1 cents – a 46 percent reduction — brings the County Executive’s proposed average monthly property tax increase down from $27 to $21.17.

You can read Leggett’s memo to the Council, here.

This story has been updated because Montgomery County issued a corrected news release for the average monthly property tax increase. County officials originally said the average monthly increase would be $18.67. The corrected news release says the average monthly property tax increase would be $21.17. 

About Staff Writer

View all posts by Staff Writer