New proposal would cap Annapolis tax increase at 10.5 cents

An up-and-down process of setting the Annapolis property tax rate continued last week with the latest recommendation — scheduled for a vote Monday — putting the possible increase at 10.5 cents.

That’s less than the 13-cent increase that was back on the table after the discovery of accounting errors threw the city’s budget process into turmoil. It is the fourth proposal for a tax rise since Mayor Gavin Buckley introduced his budget in March.

The latest change would be possible if the City Council approves using $1.6 million in bond funds slated for re-bricking Main Street for citywide road and sidewalk repairs instead. That would push back the long-planned capital project to 2020.

City Manager Teresa Sutherland, a former Anne Arundel County auditor, previously discovered that under Mayor Mike Pantelides, the city was counting savings from anticipated employee vacancies that may never have materialized.

Last week, she found accounting errors, including $2.8 million in transfers between enterprise funds — which account for utilities such as water and sewer — and the general fund. The general fund accounts for other government-related expenses and revenues.

Sutherland’s review of finances had previously prompted aldermen to propose a 9.9-cent increase to the property tax rate, down from Buckley’s original 13 cents.

The discovery of the accounting errors, though, took that idea out of consideration and pushed the tax rate needed to generate enough revenue to cover expenses to nearly 13 cents.

The new plan recommended June 1 will face a vote Monday, and would reduce the potential tax increase by 2.4 cents.

If passed, the proposal would raise the municipal tax rate to 75.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, bumping the cumulative city-county-state rate residents pay to $1.195 per $100.

The committee has recommended other changes to the budget proposal submitted by Buckley during its 22 sessions on the fiscal 2019 budget set to take effect July 1.

Aldermen plan to propose changes that would restore some environmental line items, community-school liaisons, allowing families to pay for memberships to the Pip Moyer Recreation Center on a monthly basis, and more.

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