A coalition of unions, activist groups, and city officials are teaming up to fight a
ballot amendment that would cap and lower Baltimore City’s property tax rate.
A group called Renew Baltimore is proposing a plan to go before voters as a November charter amendment that, staggered over seven years, would slash the property tax rate by about 46% before the rate is then capped.
Members of the newly formed group Baltimore City Not For Sale say that doing so will cost the city hundreds of millions, leaving Baltimore struggling to pay for public schools, sanitation, and services like EMS or police.
“That's not an effective way to provide necessary city services at a time when our city is in a renaissance and on the rise,” said Ray Baker, the communications director for AFT-Maryland which is a part of the coalition. AFT-Maryland represents much of the city’s unionized workforce including workers in the Department of Public Works and the Baltimore Teachers’ Union.
Like most cities, property taxes make up Baltimore’s largest single source of revenue.
The coalition includes Metropolitan Baltimore Council of AFL-CIO Unions, Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734, AFT Maryland, AFSCME, Jews United for Justice, 1199SEIU, Baltimore NAACP, Progressive Maryland, and Baltimore City residents.
The group is also fighting against a proposed charter amendment from PEACE Baltimore that would shrink the size of the Baltimore City Council down from 14 members to eight; that group is heavily financed by David Smith, the conservative chairman of the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Baker explained that the coalition’s focus is not to take legislative action and they won’t be introducing their own petitions for charter amendments; their focus, he says, is educating the public on why the measures could be harmful.
Stephen Walters, an economist with Renew Baltimore, called the coalition’s argument a “classic example of erroneous economic thinking.”
“We have to think about what's happening to things like the population of Baltimore, and how many taxpayers are choosing to live here and how many businesses are here,” said Walters. They argue that cutting the property tax rate will bring more residents and more business almost immediately, thereby bolstering the city’s coffers rather than draining them.
Baltimore City does have the highest property tax rate in Maryland while also having one of the lowest median home values. At 2.248%, Baltimore City’s rate is more than double the rate of Baltimore County at 1.10% while other counties, including Anne Arundel County, have rates even lower.
Meanwhile, Baltimore City has continued to lose population over the years (as does Baltimore County) and Walters argues that cutting the property tax rate can help turn that tide.
“If we keep shrinking, if we keep repelling jobs and investment the way we've been doing in recent years, that's where we will really get into a budget crisis,” he said.
Baltimore City Not for Sale will hold a press conference laying out their strategy on Tuesday morning.
This story may be updated.
