No tax rate jump is being eyed by the city. But your property tax bill may go up anyway

So far, Hagerstown City Council members are not seeking a property tax rate increase as they and city staff work on developing the upcoming 2023-2024 fiscal year budget.

Despite that, many city residents will see their tax bills rise during the period due to increased assessed values of property, according to city officials.

The council and Mayor Tekesha Martinez have been going through parts of the proposed 2023-2024 fiscal year budget during council meetings. A public hearing on the spending plan is slated for May 9 at 7 p.m. in the city council chambers in City Hall at Franklin and Potomac streets.

The addiction battle: 'We need to do something now': Drug counseling center seen as one way to save city

At that time, the council is expected to introduce ordinances setting the budget and tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30 of next year. Final votes on both are scheduled for May 16.

What impact will the assessments have on the city's budget?

At this point, plans for the upcoming budget anticipate keeping the city's property tax rate the same, which is $1.002 per $100 of assessed value. That means that a home assessed at $200,000 would have a tax bill of $2,004.

But with increasing assessed value of properties, many property owners will see the amount of their tax bill rise, city officials said. It's hard to give examples of how much tax bills might change given that each property owner's assessment is different, said Michelle Hepburn, the city's chief financial officer.

In a March 31 memo to the council and Martinez, City Administrator Scott Nicewarner said assessed values of residential and commercial property in the city have increased "significantly," which will result in more revenue to the city.

Last year's total budget, which included all funds related to economic development, electric, water, sewer, parking and stormwater management, was $171 million. The total budget is expected to grow by $44 million to $215 million in the upcoming year, Nicewarner said.

Included in the total budget is the general fund budget, which is the largest. About 65% of it is funded by taxpayers. Last year, the general budget totaled $54.7 million, and this year it's projected to increase to $58 million.

Staffing at Hagerstown Police Department remains unchanged

The proposed budget calls for eliminating funding for six vacant positions in the Hagerstown Police Department, a change that was worked out last year to provide what Police Chief Paul Kifer described as "significant" pay raises for officers. Despite the move, the number of officers in the department has remained the same over roughly a one year period.

Like departments around the country, the police department is enduring understaffing as the profession becomes less attractive among some.

Youth violence battle: Teen dropout, pregnancy rates get closer look in youth violence prevention effort

As a result, the city has worked on raises for the department in recent years. The efforts, coupled with the move last year to eliminate funding for the six vacant positions, will mean the department's starting salary will rise to $53,240 in July. At one point, the starting salary had been $40,106.

The department uses a 15-step pay scale and Kifer said previously that the salary boosts increased the scale by at least 10%.

Numbers of officers in the department have dropped in recent years and Kifer said last May that he had 84 officers. It still had that many as of April 3, Nicewarner said. The department's authorized force was reduced from 104 officers to 91 to help free up money for raises.

Kifer touched on the issue Saturday during a meeting of the Dewey Central Neighborhoods 1st Group at Antietam Volunteer Fire Co. on Potomac Avenue. He said because the "workforce is not out there like it used to be," the department is relying more on technology, like drones, which it's using to battle dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles racing through town.

Nicewarner said the city is still working to regain the momentum it had before the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal American Rescue Plan Act that was devised to help the nation endure public health crisis doled out $20.4 million to the city, and the money must be spent or appropriated by December 2024, Nicewarner said.

Nicewarner said $4.3 million of the money was used as of June last year, $3.9 million is projected to be used this year and $9.1 million is expected to be used in the upcoming fiscal year.

Among planned expenditures for the money in the upcoming year is funding a community liaison position designed to coordinate efforts to deal with homelessness and drug addiction in the city. Nicewarner said the position was filled last August and the coordinator's work so far has included restarting the city's Neighborhoods 1st program, which involves neighborhood groups across the city partnering with the administration to work on issues of importance to residents.

Many of the Neighborhoods 1st groups became dormant during the pandemic, Nicewarner said.

Let's play ball: David Blenckstone set to take charge of Hagerstown’s new Atlantic League baseball team

The community liaison also worked to find housing for tenants in the APM Inn & Suites on Dual Highway when it was condemned by the city in February for alleged violations related to fire safety and heating.

"Staff have been thrown many curveballs over the past 2 1/2 years, and the daily uncertainty that has existed over that time has put strain on the operations and strain on the service levels we and our citizens are used to experiencing," Nicewarner said in the memo.

"However, that strain has never broken our ability to maintain a level of service that continues to meet timelines and provide the information and services necessary to take advantage of this rising tide of development and opportunity," he said.

"Our downtown is poised to experience the largest increase in business activity in the last century. Smallbusiness, entertainment, food and lodging, and sports tourism are all on the precipice of opening andexpanding the footprint of opportunity for the community. The city must be prepared to capitalize on thisactivity and provide the amenities and infrastructure to facilitate this growth," Nicewarner said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown council not eyeing a property tax rate increase