From Roy Whiteley, president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
On February 24, we addressed the Budget & Taxation Committee on SB 458 & SB 724. We were disappointed that more of you could not attend in support of these measures. However, even though our support at the Senate was not as good as it was for the House version, it was adequate and well presented; significant enough to be noticed.
Senator Barry Glassman made eloquent remarks in introducing both bills and their need for passage before introducing Tony and the writer. Our verbal supporting testimony was we feel unjustly foreshortened by Chairman Currie but Tony Passaro, Bel Air TEA Party founder and spokesman did his usual scholarly, humorous delivery that filled in the blanks. Ellie Dieglemann, Ocean City resident and Worcester County Commissioner candidate, together with first time Eastern Shore testier, Cathy Geisler made strong support comments. Currie allowed Cathy ...Continue Reading
Annapolis, Md. – Harford County Senator Barry Glassman R-35 will be introducing a pair of Bills to update Maryland’s Property Taxpayers Bill of Rights
Currently, the State Department of Assessment and Taxation (“SDAT”) is receiving approximately 59,000 property tax appeals. To states falling housing market and local citizen’s awareness of the downturn in the market and the value of their homes has raised awareness on the SDAT’s current assessment procedure. Although Maryland currently has a taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, Senator Glassman wants to update some of the provisions which would allow a property tax appealer to record their local hearing, have a right to change jurisdiction when agreed upon, and agree upon a reasonable amount of time to present their case. The Senator’s legislation would also allow a property owner to receive the actual comparables and evaluation from SDAT upon the ...Continue Reading
The following letter was sent by Roy Whiteley, president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation, to Maryland state senators. A copy was provided to The Dagger:
Dear Senators
For the past several years, a bill has been introduced to the Budget and Taxation committee by Senator Barry Glassman and the Harford County Delegation only to be shoved in a drawer never to see the light of day or debate. It is time to change that stonewalling action. This bill needs to be acted upon by all of the Senators we elect. Many of your constituents strongly support that position. This year, as SB 458, the bill is again introduced to create a Task Force to review the property tax assessment and assessment appeals procedures. WE NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT TO MAKE THIS BILL RECEIVE A FAVORABLE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND BE RELEASED TO THE FLOOR FOR ACTION BY ALL OF OUR ...Continue Reading
From Roy Whiteley, president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
Yesterday, we had the privilege of addressing the Ways and Means Committee on HB 204. We were fortunate to have more of you attend in support of this measure than we have had in previous years. While the group was not overwhelming, it was nonetheless significant enough to be noticed. Hopefully, we can do even better when the senate version, SB 458, is scheduled for hearing.
Delegate Wayne Norman made great remarks in introducing the bill and its need for passage. Delegate Susan McComas testified in strong support of the measure. Additional verbal supporting testimony was provided by the writer, Nick Loffer Americans for Prosperity, Tony Passaro, Bel Air TEA Party, Maureen Harper, AFP, Ellie Dieglemann, and Samuel Ownings, Chestertown farmer/developer. Several other signees were to testify but the usual strategy of delaying potentially controversial bills until late in the day coupled ...Continue Reading
The property tax assessment process in Maryland is broken, and a task force will find ways to fix it. That’s the thinking behind proposed legislation getting a push from elected officials and tax-payer advocates in Harford County.
With Senator Barry Glassman and Delegate H. Wayne Norman as lead sponsors in the State Senate and House of Delegates respectively, identical bills entitled: “Task Force to Review Property Tax Assessment Procedure and the Assessment Appeals Process.” were recently cross-filed in the Maryland General Assembly.
The co-sponsors of the House bill, HB 204, include every member of the Harford Delegation.
Here’s how Delegate Norman explained the purpose of the task force bill in a letter to his colleagues:
“Under HB 204, the task force would be comprised of Maryland residents with substantive and professional experience in property evaluations. The task force members also would represent all parts of Maryland and have firsthand knowledge about ...Continue Reading
The following letter was sent by H. LeRoy Whiteley, Jr., president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
The March on Annapolis continues. This week Delegate Wayne Norman cross-filed HB 204 –the Task Force bill authored by Senator Barry Glassman. We need to this bill passed to have a study of the property assessment and appeals procedure performed with a positive result of a fair, equitable, unbiased, uniform, and up to date assessment system being developed so that property assessments are commensurate with actual market values.
You can find the full bill on line at www.mlis.state.md.us. Look for the scheduled hearing dateand attend the hearing. Sadly, the only way we seem to get any attention to get some elected officials to do the job they were elected to do, is to get in their face. Politicians only know numbers?? We need to fill the room to show we are serious. We will be ...Continue Reading
The following letter was sent by Roy Whiteley, president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation:
Hello Folks. Got your new property tax assessment notice? Happy with it?
If not, read on.
December 29, 2009
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE — STATEWIDE
Today the State mailed out new property assessment notices to 673,221 property owners while the Sunpapers screamed that home assessments fall an average of 19.7%?? That’s good news for one third of the over 2 million property owner/taxpayers. BUT what about the other two thirds of us???? Didn’t our property values decline the same as theirs???? And wasn’t it more than 19.7%???? We deserve the same reductions now??
You can do something about this inequity. Appeal your assessment now?? Go to www.dat.state.md.us and download the “Petition for Review of Real Property”. Hand deliver it tomorrow if possible. If not, the assessment offices will be closed on the deadline date December 31 for a State furlough ...Continue Reading
The property tax appeals process is one that most people rarely get to see, unless they happen to be H. LeRoy Whiteley, Jr. Whiteley is not only the president of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation; he regularly appeals his own property tax assessments and is in the process of such an appeal in Harford County. One step in that process involves a hearing before the local Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board (PTAAB).
As Whiteley’s December 16, 2009 hearing date approaches, he is fighting attempts by PTAAB to limit the presentation of his case. Specifically, Whiteley seeks more time to present his material and he objects to a request that he refrain from recording his own proceedings.
Ironically, Whiteley also reports that he is one of three nominees proposed by County Executive David Craig to fill two vacancies on PTAAB. Whether or not he is ultimately appointed remains to be ...Continue Reading
The following letter was distributed to members of Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation. A copy was provided to The Dagger by group president Roy Whiteley:
December 2, 2009
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE — STATEWIDE
Senator Barry Glassman has once again prepared draft legislation for introduction in the 2010 session to aid the property taxpayer. The task force bill, which we have tried for several years to have passed, has been revamped and is to be introduced at the beginning of the session. This bill when enacted will create a task force to review, evaluate the effectiveness of and recommend, adopt, and implement reforms to the property tax assessment procedure and assessment appeals process. The task force would be formed from one member of the Department of Assessments and Taxation, and one member from each of Maryland’s 23 jurisdictions. Individual members would have experience in the fields of agriculture, building construction, engineering, financial, manufacturing, real estate ...Continue Reading
(Bel Air, MD) – - Effective November 20, 2009 Harford County Government will provide a new online research tool on the Harford County Government website that will enable citizens to view the details concerning their current year Real Property Tax, Property Assessment, Bay Restoration Fund fee, and Water and Sewer charges.
Property owners will have information at their fingertips that allows them to view property taxes, Bay Restoration Fund fees, or water and sewer charges that are owed to Harford County Government. The site also allows bills to be paid electronically.
Other features of the new online site include detailed property tax data that is broken down into the amounts attributed to County, State, and highway taxes and any homestead or homeowner credits that have been applied. There is also a direct link to the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation real property information.
