The Baltimore City Council is considering raising the City’s recordation and transfer taxes to pay for affordable housing.

By raising the City’s 1.5 percent transfer tax to 2.1 percent and the recordation tax from 1 percent to 1.4 percent, the Council hopes to generate approximately $20 million for an affordable housing trust fund approved by the voters in 2016. Currently, that fund has no dedicated funding source.

Every City Council member has signed onto City Council Bill 18-0221 as a sponsor or co-sponsor, including the President – suggesting that the bill has a strong chance of passage. Owner-occupied properties would be exempt from the tax increase; buyers of residential properties can be exempt if they attest in writing that they will live in the property for at least seven of the 12 months following the purchase.

The Baltimore Sun covers the story.