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employees
expanded by 9,924 while contractual employment dropped 909 FTEs.
Health care costs for State employees will increase 14% for FY 2003. Several
members of the Committee wanted it noted that the shirt to regular employment
was a definite strategy of the Legislature who wanted to convert the contract
employees.
Hiram Burch spoke about aid to local government saying that for FY 2003
the increase would be 4.9% or $191 million. Public |
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schools
will get a 4.8% increase, compared to a 15% increase for community colleges
and a 10.7% for colleges and universities.
Theresa Tuszynski indicated that the tax amesty income was still being
counted and has reached $38 million. The annual audit by the Comptroller
will probably add $50 to 100 million to the revenues. The Congressional
stimulus package is still unknown and its affect on State income uncertain.
Personal income taxes are slightly down |
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from
last month, but sales taxes are recovering to projected levels. Comparison
of the September chart of General Revenues with the October chart of the
same, shows wide variances in many base figures. No Committee member
asked why. |
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upon
the sale of a home.
Montgomery County is largely ignoring the intent of the law as written
by the General Assembly. The County has been challenging property
owners outside the regular three-year cycle and is systematically targeting
recent homebuyers in order to circumvent the Homestead Exemption.
In 2001 the County filed 783 off-cycle challenges, formally known as Petitions
for Review. Of these, nearly 99% targeted recent homebuyers.
For these targeted homeowners the County has created a de facto annual
assessment system. In addition, these homeowners are not protected
by the Homestead Exemption since the County is retroactively challenging
them back to the date they purchased their home. My taxes have been
increased 64% in a single year by the County. And more than 750 other
homeowners are seeing similar increases. |
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Some homeowners are collectively working on the County's unfair practices.
I am leading the effort for equal protection and fair taxation. We
are engaging County and State officials. Through these discussions,
we have determined that the County is the only major roadblock to reaching
a fair resolution. The County Department of Finance defends their
tactics in the name of higher revenues. And the County Council has
not taken a position. We are hopeful that our ally in the County,
Council Member Howard Denis, will introduce a bill that forces the County
to end its profiling practices and off-cycle challenges. Council
Member Phil Andrews has stated his support for the County's unequal revenue
generation activities. The rest of the Council is silent on the issue.
On the State level, elected officials are taking a cautious approach, but
generally siding with the homeowners. The State Attor |
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ney
General has sided with the targeted homeowners. The AG believes that
the County is acting outside of the intent of the law and is likely undermining
the Constitutional guarantees of equal treatment under the law. Specifically,
the AG notes, "The State Department of Assessments and Taxation believes
and therefore avers that the systematic triggering of a reassessment of
sold properties by Montgomery County based on the recent sale of a subject
property is inappropriate under the triennial assessment process established
in the Tax-Property article and contrary to the law." The AG further
notes that, "The Supreme Court has held that 'the equal protection clause...protects
the individual from state action which selects him out for discriminatory
treatment by subjecting him to taxes not imposed on others of the same
class.'"
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