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: 议会投票支持郡长的加税建议
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发帖数: 5998 | 6 In separate decisions Wednesday, the Montgomery County Council indicated its
intention to approve an increase in the county's property tax rate this
year and cutbacks in government employee benefits.
The tax hike the council appears to favor is a 4.2 cent increase per $100 of
assessed property value — raising the rate from 90.4 cents to 94.6 cents.
Most property tax bills in the county will go up less than 1 percent.
The tax increase was first proposed by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) in
March, and will become part of the council's final fiscal 2012 budget
action May 26.
A property tax credit — $692 for all homeowners — would stay the same,
under the preliminary vote taken Wednesday.
The rate increase maintains the county's property tax revenue in fiscal 2012
at the rate allowed under the county charter — $1.46 billion.
Council President Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring, Vice President
Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac, and council members Craig L. Rice (D
-Dist. 2) of Germantown, Marc B. Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park, Nancy
Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring and Hans Riemer (D-At large) of Silver
Spring supported the increase. Council members Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3)
of Gaithersburg and Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park were
opposed.
Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park was not present
for the vote.
Over the past several weeks the council also had been weighing an alternate
tax proposal introduced by Andrews, which would have kept the tax rate the
same, but lowered the credit to $407.
Andrews said his proposal avoided a property tax increase and would save
homeowners money over the long term.
Berliner, who voted for both tax proposals, Andrews and Floreen supported
the alternative.
"It's a very hard argument to make that raising the property tax rate is
good for people," Andrews said. "I think most people's reaction when they
hear that is to hold tight to their wallets."
Those who opposed Andrews' proposal said it raised $3.1 million less than
Leggett's plan, and would result in higher property tax bills for residents
with homes worth less than $700,000.
Elrich pointed out that raising the property tax rate affects landlords and
commercial properties as well, while the credit is only paid to homeowners.
"It is wrong to say that we are raising taxes and your proposal does not,"
Elrich said to Andrews. "Your proposal raises people's taxes more."
In other actions, the council indicated its support for benefits changes for
employees across county government, including those who work for Montgomery
County Public Schools.
The council appears to support a proposal from Ervin that reduces the cost
of government employees' health care and retirement benefits by $33.15
million in fiscal 2012 — and $273.1 million through fiscal 2017.
The plan calls for raising the share that employees pay toward their health
care and retirement benefits, and altering compensation for new hires.
Ervin said the council's plan goes beyond benefits' changes proposed by
Leggett in March, which would have saved $29.6 million in fiscal 2012, but
excluded schools employees.
On Wednesday, Gino Renne, president of the United Food and Commercial
Workers Local 1994/Municipal and County Government Employees Organization,
said Ervin's plan — like Leggett's — shifts the cost of health care to
employees.
Renne's union, along with unions representing the county's police officers
and firefighters, presented a plan Tuesday night that seeks to cut costs
through a combination of employee wellness initiatives and structural
changes to the county's pension system.
"They were hell-bent on taking money from the employees," Renne said.
Still, he admitted that the council's proposal is an improvement from the
one Leggett submitted, because it forces employees to give up less of their
take-home pay.
Ervin said the union's proposal must be submitted to Leggett's
administration, which acts as the employer. From there, the proposal might
come back to the council for a vote, but it appears unlikely to affect the
outcome of the May 26 council vote on the fiscal 2012 budget.
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