[RP TownTalk] State of Maryland Property Tax Assessment

[Jonathan W. Ebbeler]

Mr. Holmes -

 

In regards to the question concerning the town being in good shape or not,
that was spoken to at length with a presentation from our independent
auditor last month.  The Town Council in fact inquired on many of the points
you raise and were told that as far as municipalities go, we are doing all
the right things and are on firm financial ground.  The firm praised the
audit controls we have in place as well as the accounting practices and
standards we adhere to operationally.

 

The questions you raise, were discussed at length at Legislative meetings; I
invite you to attend them in the future - they can be quite informative and
you can have influence and impact if you wish to speak about them before
they are voted upon.  2012-CR-03 does not relate at all with 2012-OR-12.
2012-CR-03 relates to codifying language to potentiate TIFs (Tax Increment
Financing) and any how they are handled within Chapter 619.  One very
important point to note concerning this Charter Amendment is that it is
being contemplated based upon legal advice to the town to address language
that does not specifically include nor exclude;  that is the town could
potentially create a TIF without modifying 619 but to err on the side of
caution we are updating language to include modern financing tools.  This,
if anything, relates in the immediate future to the Cafritz project, and it
may not be used at all.  The town is not amending its actual limit, a limit
Riverdale Park is well under.

 

2012-OR-12 was passed solely on the legal advice from the town attorney that
to make an official offer to an independent land holder the Mayor and
Council have to specifically delineate that in the budget.  Since budgets
are passed in advance of a fiscal year by Ordinance - i.e. June 2012 for the
July 2012-June 2013 fiscal year, we had to amend the CIP budget to line item
that purchase.  It is unlikely a purchase will be concluded in the 2012-2013
fiscal year, but the town cannot even make the official offer without
amending the budget allocations.  This does not raise the budget, it
re-allocates monies, and it has nothing to do with raising the statutory
debt limit.  It is a legislative mechanism that under advice of legal
counsel we had to draft and pass to comply with Maryland law.    

 

I would caution you to let the legal process to proceed before arriving at
conclusory findings of fact based upon what is read in the newspaper or
stated by an attorney's advocating a position they are being paid to put
forward.  Cases like this will ultimately be tried in a court of law, not
the court of public opinion based firmly upon precedence of prior case law
and the facts of the individual case.

 

Respectfully


 

Jonathan

 

Jonathan W. Ebbeler

4711 Oliver Street

Councilman - Ward 1

Chairman - Economic Development Committee

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