MACo’s Associate Director Andrea Mansfield testified in opposition to SB 533 before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.  This bill would increase the length of time, from 30 to 90 days, before a property may be advertised for tax sale after specified notices are sent to the property owner.  Under SB 533, a county would likely be required to defer collection of known delinquent accounts into the subsequent year, as the 90-day time frame would be unworkable on Maryland’s collection calendar.  Deferring enforcement and collection of delinquent accounts impedes the fair and efficient collection of taxes, at the expense of the many more compliant taxpayers.

In addition, the property owner could also be adversely affected.  By deferring collection of delinquent accounts by a full year, a property owner could now be faced with paying two years of taxes to avoid tax sale, making the late payment option even more difficult.