Dover
DOVER, Del. (AP) - The Dover council has rejected three proposals to raise property taxes to address projected shortfalls.
The proposals were voted down at a budget hearing Wednesday. Four of the six council members present voted for the tax hike, but the measure requires a five-vote majority of the nine-member council to pass.
A city staff proposal would have added 3 cents to the property tax rate of 33.78 cents per $100 of assessed value. A budget submitted by staff is balanced without a tax hike, but relies on moving unspent money from the current year to account for a projected revenue shortfall and deferring infrastructure improvements.
The city's general fund relies heavily on real estate transfer tax and building permit fee revenue and has suffered since the housing market collapse.
Wicomico County
The Wicomico County Council will be looking at hiking the property tax rate by 1.7 percent or roughly 6 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
And the public will get to a chance to assess the proposal at a hearing next Tuesday.
The rate would go from 84 cents to 90 cents.
The increase is aimed at maintaining the revenue from the property tax… in the face of declining property values.
Last year the Maryland legislature approved a measure that said Wicomico County needed to raise its property tax rate to the maximum allow under its tax cap.
