By: Mike Kennedy mkennedy@railey.com 301-616-6106 April 20th, 2009 Category: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate, Garrett County Real Estate, News

The Garrett County Commissioners are seeking to increase real estate property taxes in all of Garrett County and the Deep Creek Lake area by a total of more than $2,000,000 for the next fiscal year starting on July 1, 2009. This proposal will be accomplished by setting a real property tax rate that is above the constant yield rate.

The current assessment system in Maryland provides that as property assessments rise the real property tax rate can be reduced so that the money derived from annual real estate taxes stays at a constant level from year to year - thus assuring a constant yield of revenue from annual real estate taxes.

State of Maryland law requires that the county hold a public hearing if it intends to raise the real property tax rate above the constant yield rate. The public hearing for this proposal is scheduled for tomorrow April 21, 2009 at 10:00 am in the Garrett County Commissioners public meeting room.

Since most second and vacation homeowners are not in the area mid-week - and especially during this time of the year - it’s a safe assumption that nearly all absentee property owners in the Deep Creek Lake area won’t be able to attend this meeting. If you can’t attend you can still e-mail your comments and opinions to all 3 county commissioners.

Commissioner Glotfelty - dglotfelty@garrettcounty.org

Commissioner Gregg - countycommissioners@garrettcounty.org

Commissioner Holliday - fholliday@garrettcounty.org

We would still like to see the county make some type of accommodation or come up with a better system when it comes to scheduling public meetings that have an affect on the largest portion of the tax base - which are the highest assessed properties in the county located in the Deep Creek Lake area. The county continues to schedule important meetings during mid-week when nearly all of these second and vacation homeowners simply can’t attend such a meeting. Back in 2002 and 2003 the public hearings for the proposed Transient Vacation Rental Unit (TVRU) ordinances were held mid-week when most vacation rental homeowners could not attend.

If you are concerned about your current tax assessment on your Deep Creek Lake house or Garrett County property, please give us a call or drop us a line. Maryland does have a process in place if you would like to dispute your current assessment.

(Paul Durham contributed to this post)

Tags: Deep Creek Lake Real Estate Taxes, Garrett County Real Estate Taxes

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