The Prince George’s County Council on Tuesday unanimously tabled a measure that would have asked voters whether to allow the council to weaken the homestead tax credit.
Residents vociferously objected to the proposed ballot measure, which could have caused property tax bills for homeowners to rise more quickly. Its original proponents on the council said the change was necessary to raise revenue as the county faces a looming budget crisis. They pointed out that the Prince George’s homestead tax credit is more generous than that of other Maryland jurisdictions.
But opponents said there could not be a worse time to take money out of the pockets of residents who pay some of the highest tax rates in the state and are already suffering financially because of the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 134,000 unemployment claims have been filed since March in Prince George’s, which has a population of 909,000. Lawmakers are worried that another housing crisis is threatening in the majority-black suburb, which was hit especially hard by the 2008 downturn.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Rachel Chason over at The Washington Post
