Committee Evaluates One Maryland and Enterprise Zone Tax Credit Programs

The Tax Credit Evaluation Committee, created by Chapters 568 and 569, Acts of 2012, met recently to discuss the Department of Legislative Services’ (DLS) evaluations of the One Maryland Economic Development and Enterprise Zone Tax Credit programs. In these evaluations, DLS made a series of recommendations for both programs that would affect project selection, credit amounts, credit calculation, and program administration.

During the meeting, the Committee heard from the two agencies that have a role in administering the programs, the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) and the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), and discussed the following topics:

  • Should DBED/SDAT evaluate the merits of projects before certifying projects?
  • Should there be annual overall caps on one or both credits?
  • Should the calculation of credits, particularly for One MD, be simplified?
  • What changes could be considered to make claiming and administering each credit easier?
  • What credit data is an isn’t collected and reported now?

The Committee did not take action on these items. Instead, DBED is going to establish a workgroup composed of economic development officials from across the State to discuss these topics further and develop a plan for improving these programs.

The Tax Credit Evaluation Committee is charged with evaluating numerous State tax credit programs, beginning with the One Maryland Economic Development Tax Credit and the Enterprise Zone Tax Credit.  The Evaluation Committee is jointly appointed by the Speaker of the House and President of Senate and must have at least one member of the House Ways and Means Committee and one member of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. DLS assists the committee by evaluating the credits on a number of factors.