MACo Supports Assessment Appeals Fee on Major Commercial Properties

On January 17, 2024, MACo Legislative Director Kevin Kinnally testified before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee in support of SB 279 Property Tax Assessment- Appeals to Maryland Tax Court- Filing Fee. This bill requires a taxpayer to pay a $100 nonrefundable fee for assessment appeals on income-producing properties valued over $5 million to the Maryland Tax Court.

The Department of Assessments and Taxation is obligated to commit substantial staff time and research for every filed appeal – costs that, under current Maryland law, are shared equally between the State and county governments, who are invoiced each year. The bill’s nominal $100 filing fee for the appeal would not eclipse any owner’s right to this process, but would help to offset the administrative burdens caused by the nearly universal appeals filed by this class of property today, in the absence of such a fee.

From MACo Testimony: 

The bill requires owners of substantial commercial or industrial properties to have “skin in the game” by imposing a $100 fee for assessment appeals on income-generating properties valued over $5 million. This could help reduce the barrage of frivolous assessment appeals, which waste valuable time and resources and jeopardize limited local funds for schools, housing, public safety, public health, and other essential services.

SB 279’s cross-file, HB 174, was heard on February 1, 2024 in the House Ways and Means Committee. Kevin Kinnally testified in support of this bill.

HB 174 was heard in the opposite chamber, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, on March 26. MACo submitted testimony in support of this bill.