ROCKVILLE, MD (June 19, 2018) — The Maryland Public Policy Institute today urged City of Baltimore leaders to reject taxpayer-funded subsidies for politically-connected developers and instead enact broad-based property tax relief that benefits all city residents.

According to The Baltimore Business Journal, city leaders are seeking a $102.3 million tax increment financing package, or TIF, backed by city taxpayers to help pay for a new development in East Baltimore. The TIF will use taxpayer funds derived from property tax revenues to benefit a handful of developers while everyday Baltimore homeowners continue to pay the highest property tax rate in Maryland. Baltimore’s tax rate is roughly double that of neighboring Baltimore County, which is enjoying a population boom as the city’s population plummets.  

“Baltimore politicians should stop pretending they are venture capitalists,” said Christopher B. Summers, president and chief executive officer of the Institute. “The city’s problems will not be solved by throwing yet another taxpayer-funded incentive at a favored developer. The formula has been tried and repeatedly failed for decades. The city should instead reward existing homeowners and attract new ones with broad-based property tax relief that puts it on par with neighboring Baltimore County.”

The Maryland Public Policy Institute has published extensive analysis of how property taxes impact urban centers. In 2011, the Institute released “How to Make Baltimore a Superstar City,” which details how Baltimore could replicate economic booms in San Francisco and Boston that resulted in part from property tax reform. Read the report at mdpolicy.org.

About the Maryland Public Policy Institute: Founded in 2001, the Maryland Public Policy Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization that focuses on state policy issues. The Institute’s mission is to formulate and promote public policies at all levels of government based on principles of free enterprise, limited government, and civil society.  Learn more at mdpolicy.org.

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