MARYLAND, April 21 - For Immediate Release: Friday, April 21, 2023

The County Council will hold public hearings to receive testimony on new items introduced to the Council as follows:

May 2, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
Deadline to sign up to speak is May 1 at 2 p.m.

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY NOTICE OF A PROPOSED REAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASE

A public hearing on a proposed real property tax rate increase will be held at 1:30 p.m. on May 2, 2023 at the Council Office Building. The hearing is open to the public and public testimony is encouraged. Persons with questions regarding this hearing may call 240-777-7803 for further information.

The County Council of Montgomery County is considering proposals to increase real property taxes. Montgomery County's Recommended FY24 Operating Budget, as proposed by County Executive Elrich, includes a 10-cent property tax increase per $100 of assessed value. 

• For the tax year beginning July 1, 2023, the estimated real property assessable base will increase by 2.9 percent, from $210,639,687,085 to $216,739,524,527.
• If Montgomery County maintains the current tax rate of $0.6940 per $100 of assessment, real property tax revenues will increase by 2.9 percent resulting in $42,332,872 of new real property tax revenues.
• In order to fully offset the effect of increasing assessments, the real property tax rate should be decreased to $0.6745, the constant yield tax rate.
• The County is considering not reducing its real property tax rate enough to fully offset increasing assessments. The County proposes to adopt a real property tax rate of $0.7700 per $100 of assessment.  This tax rate is 14.2 percent higher than the constant yield tax rate and will generate $206,986,246 in additional property tax revenues.

Also on May 2, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
Deadline to sign up to speak is May 1 at 2 p.m.

• Special Appropriation to the County Government’s FY23 Operating Budget, Department of Health and Human Services, Funding for The State Opioid Response (SOR) III, $1,319,629 (Source of Funds: State Grant).

June 13, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
Deadline to sign up to speak is June 12 at 2 p.m.

• Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 23-04, Residential Uses - Short - Term Residential Rental, would require that a dwelling unit used as a short-term residential rental be the property owner’s primary residence, delete provisions allowing a property owner’s authorized agent to assume certain responsibilities assigned to the property owner, limit the number of overnight guests regardless of age, and generally amend the provisions governing a short-term residential rental.

• Bill 22-23, Transient Lodging Facilities - Short-Term Residential Rental, would assign enforcement responsibility to the Department of Health and Human Services for Article II (hotels) and to the Department of Housing and Community Affairs for Article III (bed and breakfasts and short-term residential rentals), increase the maximum penalty for a violation of Article III of Chapter 54, amend the application process for a bed and breakfast or short-term residential rental license, including license criteria and notice requirements, clarify the process for challenging an application for bed and breakfast or short-term residential rental license, clarify the process for suspending or revoking a bed and breakfast or short-term residential rental license, clarify the process for appealing the Director’s decision on a bed and breakfast or short-term residential rental license to the Board of Appeals, and make other stylistic changes.

A full list of upcoming public hearings is available at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/calendar.html.

Additional documents are available at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council.

Residents have the opportunity to testify remotely for public hearings or provide in-person testimony at the Council Office Building in Rockville.

Residents can register to speak in person or virtually at a public hearing, provide written testimony, prerecorded audio or video testimony using the online form at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSignUp.html; or sent by mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850; or residents may sign up to testify remotely by phone (call 240-777-7803 for information). To express an opinion call 240-777-7900.

Residents who would like to call in or testify at a Council public hearing need to preregister on the Council's web page at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/calendar.html. Once the public hearing sign up request form is submitted and the public hearing list is created, individuals will receive separate confirmation notifications that include the appropriate link to use or phone number to call for the public hearing.

Comments and suggestions are welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v or by sending regular mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850. For information or to express an opinion call 240-777-7900. Councilmembers continue to hold meetings in their offices by appointment.

The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM) on Xfinity channels 6 and 996, RCN channels 6 and 1056; and FiOS channel 30. Also available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8, Facebook Live (@MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil or @ConcejodelCondadodeMontgomery), or YouTube (@MoCoCouncilMD).

The Council meeting schedule may change from time to time. The current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review can be viewed at: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.

Release ID: 23-141
Media Contact: Sara Tenenbaum