For many years, I have written about the fact that property taxes in Montgomery County have essentially become the equivalent of a second mortgage for many homeowners. If we believe we have honest elections in the County, suffering the highest overall tax and fee burden in the region has yet to spark revolt among County voters. Would property taxes higher than your annual mortgage payment be enough to get taxpayers reaching for their proverbial torches and pitchforks? That's why I was delighted to read Chevy Chase resident Glenn Easton's letter to the editor in the rapidly-shrinking Washington Post.
Easton reported that this shocking event - the Taxological Singularity, if you will - has now taken place. "My property taxes exceed my mortgage payment and threaten my ability - and the ability of many others - to age in place in this state." He noted that the latest tax increase on his property was 13% in 2025, and have been as high as 26%. Easton has challenged assessments of his property each time, and has lost each time. Like me, Easton is "not sure why more homeowners (and voters) are not outraged."
California voters, in a very, very different era in the Golden State, led perhaps the most famous tax revolt in America since 1776. Easton called for a similar revolt and reform to that storied uprising of 1978, which led to property tax increases being capped at 2% annually.
With all County offices on the ballot once again this November, are Montgomery County taxpayers finally ready to revolt?
The County's disastrous fiscal situation indicates that change must come sooner or later, the (somewhat) easy way, or the hard way. Our tax burden must be reduced, and our master plan highway system completed, to attract high-wage jobs and corporations to the County. Montgomery County hasn't attracted a single new major corporate headquarters in over a quarter century. The only growth is in residential housing, and our structural budget deficit confirms that the costs new housing generates far exceed the tax revenue they generate.
Speaking of revenue generation, Council members have delivered multiple tax cuts to their developer sugar daddies, even as they've raised yours every single year except FY-2015 (in which the average homeowner received a whopping $12 tax cut). Perhaps inspired by the $72 million tax cut the Council delivered to developers in White Flint back in 2010, Councilmember Andrew Friedson has successfully pushed through two major tax cuts for developers in recent years. These have created massive exemptions from property taxes for projects at Metro stations and for office-to-housing conversions. The latter law is so permissive, its 20-year full property tax exemption(!!) applies to so many projects that it will blow a massive hole in County tax revenues over the next two decades. Most offensive is that these projects were going forward anyway, with the tax elimination simply an act of profiteering.
When taxes get lighter for real estate developer Friends of the Council, guess who taxes get heavier for? Yep, you the home and business owner. We can't keep shifting the tax burden to homeowners and small businesses, and we can't keep forgoing all of the lost business and commercial revenue we are losing due to our non-competitive tax burden and moribund County economy.
We also can't keep spending the way we are. Where the Council and our equally-corrupt Apple Ballot School Board are satisfied with a generously-funded school system that performs poorly, we instead need an adequately-funded school system that performs exceptionally. And an in-depth reform of profligate spending on Council-connected "non-profits" is long overdue. Many of these have organizational directors and officers who make financial contributions to Councilmember campaigns. Taxpayer money effectively ends up in the pockets of Councilmembers, and provides lucrative careers for the donors.
The tax policies of Montgomery County are eerily reminiscent of those in Bell, California. Elected officials there ultimately ended up in prison.
Taxation is theft, to begin with. Property taxes by their nature are insidious, particularly at the almost-comically-excessive level charged in Montgomery County. If you don't pay, the government takes your home. Which means that all "private property" is effectively owned by the government, and you are paying government a rent to live there.
Enough is enough. Beyond a stagnant economy, gross incompetence by elected officials, high violent crime, and failing transportation and school systems, is a property tax that exceeds your mortgage payment enough for you to act? We'll find out on Election Night 2026.
To the barricades!
14 comments:
"Inconceivable!" (as per "The Princess Bride").
I do not think that "singularity" means what you think it means.
Buckle up as this party is just getting started. Moore has big plans in keeping MD a sanctuary state so when the federal government cuts off funding for illegal use of funds, the taxpayers are going to makeup the difference. We already got our 12.2% increase Christmas card for FY2026 property taxes.
Don't bother contesting it as MD undervalues but over rates so the first question they ask is "would you sell your house for the accessed value"? The answer is no because unlike VA, (for now), MD doesn't use market value for their accessment.
Democrats are not qualified to be dog catcher, but thanks to ignorance and apathy along with Illegals who are allowed to vote, here we are.
Are you a homeowner?
Is MD raising the property tax rate, or are people concerned about their assessments? Are the assessments incorrect?
I guess I just don't understand how one can be upset if the assessment is correct and the property tax rate has not changed.
My DC taxes will increase 10% per year for years because the assessment can only increase 10%. The assessed value is still a good 20% higher than the value used for taxes (and still a good 35% less than market value).
The plan marches on. There is a bill in Maryland to eliminate single family home zoning.
See how this works? The developer sugar daddies are salivating for that land.
"Progressives" hate independence and resourcefulness.
This is the dirty little secret democrats have. Without Illegals voting, ballot harvesting "finding truck loads of uncounted ballots", they would never win a fair election. Even CNN has voter ID with citizenship proof over 75% across the board. Fulton County is the tip of the iceberg.
Speaking of Wes Moore, it's no wonder why he touts only a 2.1B deficit while the Baltimore Sun says he's off by a factor of 4, (over 8-Billion for those math challenged liberals).
https://x.com/RameshPonnuru/status/2019190413559542214
7:16: It's both - in order to prevent an automatic tax hike each year, the Council must actually cut the property tax rate. It's only done this in FY-2015. And the assessments are often absurdly inflated, requiring homeowners to challenge them.
For Robert: When you say absurdly inflated, you mean the assessed values are higher than the reasonable market value of the property?
9:55: I think it's fair to say that, historically, assessed values tended to be significantly lower than market value. In recent times, assessments have taken phantom renovations and additions into consideration, resulting in wild increases for homes that have not added any amenities or upgrades. So an assessment more in line with market value can be seen as absurd and a desperate stretch to wring more blood from the homeowner stone.
5:14: It simply represents a happening that was anticipated, and has now transpired, much like its use in the computing field.
MoCo residents have three choices: 1) move to another state (as I did); 2) stop electing Democrats (which will never happen as most voters are Deep Staters or their dependents or otherwise members of the brainwashed majority) ; 3) stay in your living hell and keep cursing the darkness.
C'mon, man. By that definition, three days from now, this weekend's Super Bowl will qualify as a singularity.
Add excessive over-the-top HOA fees that are often equal or close to the motgage payment, and you're paying the equivalent of THREE mortgage payments for one property.
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