Montgomery County elected officials have raised property taxes on homeowners every year since 2010, except for FY-2015, when a 2014 election-year tax cut delivered a whopping average $12 savings to tax-whipped residents (gee, thanks!). It looks like they are going to do it again for FY-2024, as County Executive Marc Elrich (D) released his proposed budget yesterday, and he suggested the largest property tax hike since FY-2017. The extra payday would go exclusively to Montgomery County Public Schools, whose student performance has only declined as bigger and bigger budgets have been approved for it by the County Council. Money has never been the problem at MCPS, only incompetent leadership since the exit of Superintendent Jerry Weast, a clearly-failed curriculum, and an increasingly-stark lack of student safety and security.
There's an even greater problem about the record $3.2 billion outlay for MCPS in Elrich's budget. Due to the disastrous Maintenance of Effort law, the amount spent on MCPS can never go down from one year to the next. So, even as Elrich himself declares "a mild recession could take place later this year," his budget would lock in a required expenditure of at least $3.2 billion for MCPS in the FY-2025 budget - even if a recession deals a severe blow to County revenue. And we're not even talking about the worrisome situation in the banking sector, which is persisting despite a federal bailout of wealthy billionaires at Silicon Valley Bank earlier this week.
What that would mean, is that savings and cuts would have to be found elsewhere in the budget: police, fire, libraries, road maintenance, etc. And the County Council is already cruising toward a rude fiscal awakening, as it has convinced itself, the local media, and enough voters that its rosy budgets of the last few pandemic years were due to councilmembers' overwhelming talent and skill, and not the overwhelming federal cash that poured into the County to cover COVID-19 losses. That money is now being cut off by Uncle Sam.
You wouldn't know it from reviewing the proposed budget. And from a steep tax hike being proposed, you wouldn't know that a majority of County residents are being hit hard by persistent inflation. Not to mention that, for many County residents - particularly the elderly and others on fixed incomes - the current property tax has become the equivalent of a second mortgage they must pay off on their home.
There are other fanciful ideas in the budget announcement, such as the recent canard pushed by the County political cartel that Montgomery County residents are somehow paying less property taxes than some other jurisdictions. This is false, because the assessments on houses are so much higher in Montgomery County than in those jurisdictions that MoCo residents actually pay more. In reality, Montgomery County has the highest real property tax payments, and the highest total tax and fee burden in the Washington, D.C. region. We pay massive income and piggyback income taxes, real estate transfer taxes, energy taxes, cell phone taxes, rain taxes, and more - many of these being taxes that don't even exist in counties around us.
Our current tax structure and burden are two of the major reasons for our moribund County economy. Montgomery County's economic growth and strength have been at or near rock bottom in the region for more than a decade, as measured by every relevant federal indicator. No major corporation has relocated its headquarters to Montgomery County in over a quarter century.
Taxes have also been the major cause for the flight of the rich out of Montgomery County, which caused the County's "Rodeo Drive" of Friendship Heights to crash, leaving behind vacant buildings and empty storefronts. Significantly increasing taxes and spending, as we've done and as is being proposed again here, is a reckless move in this context, and total insanity when you factor in the County's massive debt.
One positive thing Elrich's budget proposes? Providing the funding to restore the Office of the People's Counsel, a lawyer who can represent the people in land use matters. This is long overdue, but we don't need a $6.8 billion budget or a property tax hike to make that happen.
28 comments:
This year alone my property tax assessment went up by $150,000.
I presume that the MoCo business model is: More Taxes and Less Services.
Three high-rise multifamily mixed use apartment buildings have been recently approved in Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights, all with new retail on the ground level. A new food hall is about to open in the former Antropolgie space. Several new restaurants have opened in Chevy Chase near Clydes.
No doubt that Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights have suffered the loss of high end retail, but it seems that adding many more residents living downtown, and limited new Class A retail space will help.
My property tax assessment went up almost 30%. I have the Homestead Act fortunately so I am somewhat protected - not sure if/how the HA would apply to the 10 cent proposal from Elrich. It's crazy how driven that man is to destroy a county that once was the crown jewel of the entire mid-atlantic region.
I'm also wildly offended by him saying this tax hike is needed for schools due to the learning loss and other challenges students face. So let me get this straight, you punish kids and families by locking down schools for 2 years despite all of the science proving the COVID threat to kids was/is virtually non existent... Then you tell us that WE have to foot the bill for your tragic mistakes? What an absolute slime ball. I cannot believe this dude runs the county. So sad.
Did Monifa say anything was going to improve? More ESL.money?
What needs to take a hike is Erlich!
How many states alone, or for that matter, countries in the whole world with budgets that don't even come close to that?
He was duly elected by all the well educated persons in the County. Raise taxes and no program for accountability for success
Get used to it. I've contested property tax increases for the past three cycles. Know that MD undervalues and over rates which makes it virtually impossible to get a lower adjustment. The first question they ask at the hearing, (live, or remote), is: "would you sell your property for that amount?" The answer is always no because the valuation is below market value unlike Virginia which uses market value thus making it easy use accurate comparables.
Elrich and the gang on the council are nothing but thieves redistributing money to supporters much like Brandon bailing out SVB when they found out that the depositors there were large donors. Pathetic.
I actually agree with Dyer for once.
It's not cheap to feed, clothe, house, educate and provide legal representation to those many "undocumented" folks Elrich and company have welcomed into the county. Nor to provide those salaries and benefits the public employee unions have "negotiated".
Taxes are needed to bail out the democrats rich tech millionaires and the esg companies at silicon vally bank and to house illegals pouring into country and for zelensky so joe gets his 10%
Listen, do you hear that? the screaming MAGA crowd is at an ear splitting pitch. The problem is they have no alternative to present, nor any representative to step forward at bat for them, so sit down, shut up, or LEAVE!
NOTE: This comment probably will never see the light of monitors, since Dyer will censor it.
The alternative is to not promote self defeating, knee jerk, feel good, corrupt, unconstitutional, socialistic and plain stupid programs. That's the alternative.
Yes 7:46, I did finally have enough of it, the continual, mindless, knee-jerk Democrat voting habits of the MoCo voter. I left and am so glad I did. That place is headed for the toilet like so many Dem controlled jurisdictions.
7:46 Should open their eyes to what's happening in NYC, Chicago and every major city in CA but will never admit what happens when cities start to lose tax base due to high crime, unfettered illegal immigration and then high taxes to put those final nails in the coffin. All fun and games until you run out of other peoples money.
If course, I could be a leftist hypocrite and keep voting democrat in hope that this time it will work despite over 60-years of failure, (great society).
Check out what Maryland democrats have in store for us: Maryland House Bill HB1180
"Providing that a person who was under the age of 25 years at the time of the offense may not be found to have committed murder in the first degree if the charge is based on a murder committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate a certain felony"
So if someone under 25 commits murder during the commission of a crime, there will be no felony charge. Stupid doesn't even begin to describe what democrats have in store for the law abiding public. Maybe 7:46 should be left to themselves...
7:46 Is admitting the liberal playbook: "sit down, shut up, or LEAVE". You must be part of the MSM or a former Twitter employee. Normal people might be embarrassed but you guys are still rearranging those Titanic deck chairs.
I have not looked into it too closely 12:30 but doesn't that bill refer to the accomplices of someone who commits a murder in the course of a felony? Not the person who actually commits the murder. The so-called felony murder rule.
Ask yourself why our judges aren't allowed to defer sentence for joining the military anymore. Remember that? Now, no criminals allowed in our military 'cause that's the best job a HS graduate can get. Getting a felony as a POC shouldn't be so easy. Maybe a Civil War again might help folks to appreciate that everybody living here MAGA.
Some folks enjoy reading the fine print. I do not. I've learned to trust other folks who enjoy it. They don't get enough respect. For the most part on the local level, we have folks reporting on the fine print that don't outright lie. There's always a spin, but they don't lie.
Imagine the outage if single family home owners actually had to pay taxes proportional to the amount of taxpayer money it takes to build and maintain roads and utility infrastructure. Property taxes for such homes would be 400% to 900% higher than they are now. A 10% increase is essentially nothing; the single family home is still heavily subsidized by others, purely a natural consequence of how much more expensive and inefficient such living arrangements are. And it will continue to be that way because property owners hold disproportionately high political power.
6:25 Criminals in the military got it. Most POC are not in this situation. A subset want to glorify being gang bangers and then get pissed when people treat them as gangsters.
For non violent crimes, give time off for learning a trade.
Learning
2:29 - Spoken like a true renter for life. You do realize that rents will skyrocket for EVERYONE as this is not a zero sum gain and the costs are passed on.
Pro Tip: Nothing in this world is FREE regardless of what socialist heroes will tell you.
Imagine the outrage if EVERYONE had to put at least a little skin in the game to maintain roads and utility infrastructure.
Imagine the OUTRAGE if EV owners were forced to pay road tax they're currently avoiding now, (gasoline & diesel fuel prices include this tax), instead of making local utilities burn more COAL, NATURAL GAS and other fossil fuels that makeup the majority of electrical generation in Maryland and most of the nation.
Funny how Elrich and now Moore have no intention of improving the electric grid beyond DEI despite closing off future access to Natural Gas which will, intentionally or unintentionally, disproportionately punish people on the bottom end of the income scale.
These leftists are the clown car in charge because people like 6:25 & 2:29 can't see the forest from the trees.
2:29 is a true Communist but would never admit it to your face. Be Proud, Comrade!
Question - how much are those miles of white plastic dividers going up on OGR and Little Falls Pkwy to make 'bike lanes'? How much does that cost? Any chance, ANY chance, of .gov cutting spending at all? And the big joke is the money will NOT get to the classrooms. PERIOD.
2:29 - It was YOU who envisioned Thrive 2050, wasn't it? Are you an Obama clone?
"So let me get this straight, you punish kids and families by locking down schools for 2 years despite all of the science proving the COVID threat to kids was/is virtually non existent..."
For the person who made this comment... I don't believe this is true. Though even if it was I would assume these kids had adult parents/guardians. The kids would have become carriers and brought COVID home.
All 8:05 needs to compare is what states like Maryland & NY versus Florida.
Ask yourself why our judges aren't allowed to defer sentences for joining the military anymore..
Good blog and excellent to read..
abogados de quiebras
I used to live in New Jersey, where real estate property taxes are much higher than here in MoCo. But in return, I lived in safe areas where I did not need to worry about crime.
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