Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maryland > Baltimore
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 01-24-2011, 07:26 AM
 
201 posts, read 588,210 times
Reputation: 59

Advertisements

Property taxes: Steve Walters of Loyola University Maryland suggests cutting the city's property tax rate in half - baltimoresun.com

What do you guys think? I think it could work, but would need more than 4 years for the "lock box" to grow enough to get the property tax rate down that low. Maybe a 5-7 year guaranteed rate decline would be enough.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-24-2011, 07:34 AM
 
Location: Baltimore
1,759 posts, read 5,124,164 times
Reputation: 1201
It would mean a massive shift in revenue raising from elsewhere. As a resident and a realtor, obviously I'm all for anything and everything that would make the city more appealing to live in. It gets pretty difficult explaining to out of towners why a <1000 sq ft home has taxes in excess of $4000 in some cases.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-24-2011, 08:33 AM
 
Location: NYC
7,305 posts, read 13,464,946 times
Reputation: 3714
It would certainly give me and some of my peers, who seem comfortable renting long-term, more of an incentive to look for good deals.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-24-2011, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Baltimore
158 posts, read 394,326 times
Reputation: 57
I agree that 5-7 years might be more helpful - but I guess the city would have to be careful - if the chartered tax decrease was too far out in the future that might lessen the impact of the announcement. I really hope the new mayoral candidates grab ahold of this idea and run with it (and I don't mean run it into the ground). As the paper says, I think it would be a struggle for awhile (even with the distribution of the "lock box funds") -- but ultimately the city could collect more tax revenue b/c there would be more folks to tax! And I'm obviously over-simplifying here, but as more and more folks move into Baltimore and care about the city (caring about the city and wanting to see it do well is key, too) - they'll build stronger neighborhoods, help push out crime (by being an active group presence), and maybe will even start sending their kids to public schools and volunteering at those schools, helping to push those schools up... Ahh... the urban renewal (pipe?) dream in Baltimore...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2011, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Ashburn, VA
989 posts, read 2,847,148 times
Reputation: 655
The property taxes are the main reason I will probably sell my two Baltimore rentals this year. While they bring in decent monthly rents, I am out of pocket due to the high property taxes. Since they are investments, the taxes are higher than if they were primary residences. I would consider keeping them if the taxes were lower...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-27-2011, 02:44 PM
 
152 posts, read 486,253 times
Reputation: 54
This type of thinking -- taking a short term cut in revenue to realize long term benefits like increased population, higher levels of home ownership and a larger (taxpaying) middle class -- probably isn't likely from our city's esteemed leaders. But it always helps to dream, right?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Maryland > Baltimore
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:56 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top