Property tax rates in Annapolis will remain the same in 2007, Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer announced Monday, but city homeowners will still pay more because of increased property assessments.
With the rate in place ? 56 cents for every $100 ? a homeowner with a house worth $400,000 will pay about $2,240 in property taxes. Assessments are set by the state and based on the sales prices of real estate, and tax rates are determined by municipalities.
Tim Elliot, finance director for the city of Annapolis, said increased assessment rates bring in about $2.4 million a year for the city. “This is a tough year, but I think two quarters, a nickel and a penny is pretty doggone reasonable,” Moyer said.
Elliot said assessment values in the city have “skyrocketed” over the past six years. Property assessments in Annapolis went up a median of 64 percent over the past three years.
Real estate agent Susan Nealey, who works in Anne Arundel County, said Annapolis has always been a hot spot for homebuyers.
“It?s the waterfront ? just walking through the town of Annapolis, people go crazy and they want to be close to that,” Nealey said.
Moyer introduced a $68 million budget Monday night that increases city spending by about 8 percent.
Moyer said the budget is a “maintenance budget” and that its main enhancement is salary upgrades for city employees.
“I am not willing to cut back on our standards and I am not willing to fire people,” she said.
Moyer could not lower the property tax rate, or the 2007 budget would not have included one of her most crucial initiatives, Elliot said.
“Let?s put it this way: The mayor?s feeling was that in order to lower the tax rate ? you?d have to cut some service,” he said. Among those services are the salary increases for the city?s workers.
“It was necessary to step up to the plate and say public safety is our first priority,” Moyer said.
