Seriously SRB?

Mayor Rawlings-Blake's proposal to lower property taxes is the subject of a recent Baltimore Sun article. Her "realistic and feasible" plan is to drop the rate 9% over the next 9 years, dropping the rate from $2.268 per $100 of assessed value to $2.068.

Is this a serious solution to the problem? 9% over 9 years is not going to stop of flood of people leaving the city of Baltimore, nor is it going to help to build the residential and business tax break in this city. Even if slashing the tax rate by 50% sounds unreasonable, when two leading university economists in Baltimore said it could actually work if done correctly, 9% is a drop in the bucket. Maybe if she said 20% we could take this as a serious proposal.

The City of Baltimore needs to get serious on these proposals if they are to help turn around this city into a place it could truly be. Look at the development that is going on here, and imagine what it could be like if more residents and business were entering the city instead of fleeing for the counties or development friendlier cities.

Comments

  1. Occupy TerraJuly 20, 2011 at 12:46 PM

    What really concerns me is the idea that hurting the city's revenues is a good idea when we're already operating under cuts to police and fire, when the city is really in need of more. People don't choose whether to live in Baltimore based on the small property tax rate, its based on fear of the city, which comes from a failure to provide sufficient government services. I wouldn't be ok with a dime in property tax cuts without at least 120% of those cuts being made up with other taxes.

    That said SRB is just glomming onto an issue that her opponents are pushing to defuse it.

    ReplyDelete

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