1. Don Dewar wants to cut property taxes. Don’s plan, which is based on a study by a nationally prominent economist, calls for the city to cut property taxes 5% each year for 10 years. The city has an annual budget of $2.7 billion. Property tax is only one of several ways that the city collects money. Reducing the property tax rate by 5% will cut the city’s revenues by $60 million, or 2%. City Hall can afford to give this money back to the homeowners. By comparison, a lot of homeowners can’t afford their property tax bills.
2. Don Dewar wants the city to publish its checkbook and other financial records on the Internet. If the citizens can watch their money being spent, it will be harder for the city to waste money. Don also wants the City Council to hold open budget hearings for every agency every two months. If the city’s financial records are open, taxpayers can demand accountability for wasteful spending.
3. Don Dewar wants the city to aggressively attack vacant houses. There are at least 20,000 vacant houses in Baltimore. If they pay any tax at all, it is the bare minimum. Most of these vacant houses are clustered in the same areas. Don Dewar wants the city to stop spending money on downtown development. Instead, Don wants the city to direct its funding to buying vacant houses and rebuilding neighborhoods. We could have built 2,000 new houses for the cost of the new hotel that the city is building. If we bring more homeowners back to the city, we won’t need to pay as much property tax. Re
4. Don Dewar wants developers to pay their taxes just like the rest of us. The City Council hands out tax breaks to developers on a regular basis. When the rich guys get tax breaks, the rest of us pay more. The money the City Council is giving away belongs to us. Don Dewar wants the city to give it back.
5. Don Dewar wants the city to pay its Police Officers and Firefighters. “I can’t repeat this enough,” Don says. “How can our police officers be paid less than officers in the counties, when we have record budget surpluses? No wonder we can’t fill vacant positions.” |
Don Dewar wants to cut property taxes.
Baltimore City residents are being overcharged. We pay the highest property tax rate in the state – more than twice as much as Baltimore County’s. Property tax assessments have increased dramatically. What do we have to show for it?
During the real estate boom of recent years, Baltimore enjoyed record surpluses. One year, the city collected $61 million more than it expected. Instead of giving this money back to the taxpayers, the City Council has spent your money recklessly. Construction projects came in over budget. The school system has lost money year after year. No one has explained why. Big developers get tax breaks and direct subsidies. The city is spending $300 million to build a hotel that will be turned over to private businessmen when it is finished. Bureaucrats in City Hall earn high salaries, but our police are underpaid and the police department is severely understaffed.
Don Dewar has developed a five-step plan for reducing property taxes and managing the city’s money. First, Don Dewar’s plan calls for a 5% cut in the property tax rate, every year, for ten years. Secondly, Don Dewar wants to open the books on city spending, so that the taxpayers can watch their money being spent. Thirdly, Don Dewar wants the city to rebuild boarded-up neighborhoods, because vacant houses don’t pay taxes. If more people are paying taxes, each of us will have to pay less. Fourth, Don Dewar wants the city to stop giving tax breaks to developers. Why should some of us pay the highest property taxes in the state, when others pay nothing? Finally, Don Dewar wants the city to put police and fire department funding in a lock box. How can we underpay our police officers and firefighters when we have a $61 million surplus? They risk their lives for us. We need to pay them well.
You have to balance your budget and live within your means. Don Dewar is running for City Council because he wants the city do the same.
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