MARYLAND – Following a mixup with mail at Maryland’s State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), local governments are facing a potential loss to their property tax revenues to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Roughly 107,000 updated property tax assessments were not mailed before the deadline. State legislative leaders including Senate Budget and Tax Chair Guy Guzzone (D- District 13) and House Ways and Means Chair Vanessa Atterbeary (D- District 13) have expressed concern over the potential consequences this could have, particularly while the state and numerous counties are already facing budget crunches.
“We haven’t gotten to the absolute details yet,” said Senator Guzzone last week when prompted on the issue. “We know it exists. We know there was a mistake made. We know that it’s significant. We rely on the assessments to be accurate and in all cases, right and so, they need to be accurate period.”
Senate President Bill Ferguson (D- District 46) has already made clear that blame lays at the feet of the SDAT Chair, Michael Higgs, who was originally appointed by former Governor Larry Hogan (R) in 2016.
“To me, if you’re the head of an agency, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the responsibilities of that agency are executed effectively,” Ferguson said last week. “I don’t want to prejudge the situation. From what I know, it’s pretty disappointing. And as I learned more, I think there would have to be accountability if it continues to be it’s clear that there was negligence”
Legislators are scrambling for fixes to this extremely unusual issue. One fix being proposed by Guzzone is adjusting the term “taxpayer” under property tax assessments, while Atterbeary has proposed extending the assessment deadline.
“SDAT utilizes the services of the State’s preferred vendor, the League for People with Disabilities, for the printing and mailing of these reassessment notices, which are typically sent in the final days of December each year,” said Higgs in response to the issues. “This year, SDAT learned of an error in the League’s process that resulted in approximately 107,000 notices not being sent. The League has since resolved the error and the missed recipients will receive notices in the coming weeks.”
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