Daily Times Editorial – Let’s Whine But Don’t Allow for Any Solutions

December 30, 2008 by Cato  
Filed under Maryland, Media, Taxes, Wicomico Politics

This morning I read the lead Daily Times editorial with some amusement – Flaw Found in Homestead.  There is a flaw.  Unfortunately, it is not the flaw imagined by the editors of our local paper.  The flaw lies in a so-called “homestead tax credit” that allows primary residences to rise in value by as much as 10% per year.  In affect, Wicomico County has no homestead tax credit.

Assessments ALWAYS lag.  As much as I hate to admit it, Maryland’s system of re-assessment is pretty fair and efficient.  In many other states re-assessment is done at the whim of the local governing body.  You may go 10 years without a countywide reassessment and then you’re hit with a re-assessment where your home’s assessed value has risen 120%!  People are even less thrilled than they are in the not-so-Free State.

If you are a regular reader, you know that I am not a fan of the current Salisbury city government.  As much as it pains me to admit, they actually do a few things right.  One of those things is a ZERO based homestead tax credit.  As it has been explained to me, the assessed value of your home does not rise from the time you purchase it.  However, Wicomico County raises your assessment pretty much every year, unless we happen to be in a deep real estate downturn lasting more than three years.

There is a solution.  Earlier this year, Wicomico Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman proposed that the county look into reducing the amount a primary residence’s assessment is allowed to rise from 10% to 5%.  Given that our council includes the likes of Bill McCain – who believes that ANY discussion of tax relief is “ABSURD” – the proposal didn’t go very far.

I wonder how far it would have gone had the Daily Times provided some decent coverage of the issue when it came up, rather than merely whining about it now?