(WBFF) — Affordability is a big concern across the country as the cost of food, rent, energy and gas increase. As a way to ease cost-of-living burdens, many states are considers some form of property tax relief.
More than a dozen states have either passed a plan to provide some relief, or are discussing a measure to do so. Some of the conversations revolve around eliminating property tax, while other states are raising the homestead exemption, looking into caps and limits on rates, or wanting to provide some sort of refund.
“We’re seeing this trend across the country because the cost of living is generally so high,” said Anirban Basu, the Chairman & CEO, Sage Policy Group.
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Officials in Florida are making a big push for property tax relief. The legislature just passed a measure that would raise the homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028. The proposal will appear on the November ballot for voters to decide.
“The reality is, is that the property tax has become a big, big burden for millions of people in this state. And fortunately, because we’ve had success, we have an ability to do something about it,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Despite being a high tax state, property tax relief is not being considered in Maryland.
“It should be noted that our state property tax rate is actually very low, at just about 11 cents per $100 of assessed value, where the property tax impacts people is really the jurisdictional rate,” Basu said. “Whether you live in Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, of course, Baltimore City, Baltimore City has by far the highest real property tax rate in Maryland, and Baltimore City residents, I think, could really use a major dose of property tax relief, and that would cause more people to move in the city, stay in the city, broaden the tax base and actually probably increase city tax revenues.”
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“But states like Florida, of course, are working hard to maybe even eliminate their real property tax rate, and they don’t even tax income,” he added. “So, Maryland is going to have to work hard to remain competitive with other states, and right now we’re not that competitive with split to income taxes and corporate tax rates. We need to make some progress along those dimensions.”
While a big argument against property tax cuts is the reduction of revenue, which can go toward schools, infrastructure, roads, public safety and other critical needs, Basu said in many cases, providing property tax relief could incentivize more people to move into or stay in an area and could increase overall revenue.
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