A Matter of Law: Is Rehrmann’s Property-Tax Ploy Illegal?

It is a rare day indeed when this journal opposes a tax cut, a rarer one still when it actually suggests an increase. But Harford County Executive Eileen Rehrmann’s proposal to do away with the state property tax prompts this response.

It is, of course, entirely natural for gubernatorially aspiring politicians to dream up election-year gimmicks. And this, to be sure, is one of them. It is a tax “cut” that, by definition, cannot be any such thing. The money raised by the property tax is dedicated in its entirety to paying the state’s debt. The debt must be paid under the state constitution. It cannot not be paid. If the funds do not come from the property tax, they must be found some place else – period.

The state property tax is 21

Posted in: Fiscal, News Series