County Approves Municipal
 Tax Equity Program

(3/16) The Frederick Board of County Commissioners recently agreed to go back to the original calculations in formulating the tax equity program for the county’s municipalities. The county has used the tax equity program to reimburse municipalities that do not receive services from the county, but provide the same services to residents out of their municipal taxes. For the first time, the county has also instituted an optional tax differential system, where municipal taxpayers have a lower county tax rate than those in unincorporated areas.

Staff from the Frederick County Finance Division presented the final FY2013 tax equity distribution numbers at the March 8 county/municipalities meeting. The calculations include the tax rebate and the tax differential the municipalities will receive. The Town of Myersville and The City of Frederick decided to use the tax differential system with a new county tax rate for their taxpayers.

Board President Blaine Young commented, "As we promised, we have moved forward in improving our relationship with the municipalities. Our actions regarding the municipal tax equity and differential programs have made a tremendous difference in ending the bad blood between municipal elected officials and the Board of County Commissioners. In the midst of continuing difficult economic conditions, we are helping them solve their budgetary problems, unlike the State of Maryland that is moving actively to shift the budget impacts onto the backs of local county governments. We’re trying to help our municipalities, not give them further burdens.

"We’re extremely excited that The City of Frederick and Town of Myersville have opted to do the tax differential allocation of monies and thus lower their citizen tax rates. In addition, we thank Mayor Carroll Jones of the City of Brunswick for his leadership role in this discussion and his presentations as president of the Frederick County Chapter of the Maryland Municipal League."

Mayor Jones commented, "We appreciate all the commissioners working with the municipalities and that the board went back to the old tax equity formula, where we gained over a quarter of a million dollars for the City of Brunswick. That helps make up for the other shortfalls we are experiencing due to the economy. We appreciate the good working relationship we have now."

Actions by the commissioners will result in an increase of over 55 percent in financial distributions for the municipalities. In FY2012, the total distribution was $7,402,081 and in FY2013 it will be $11,533,907.

For additional information, contact Senior Budget Analyst Tanya Kauffman at 301-600-1693 or via e-mail at tkauffman@FrederickCountyMD.gov.

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