Montgomery County Council won't put property tax hike question on ballot this fall

Robin Ficker

The Montgomery County Council voted 6-5 on Tuesday to reject a Charter Review Commission proposal that would have made it easier to raise property taxes above the current County Charter limit. This means the proposal will not be put before the voters as a ballot question in November 2024. Currently, under the successful Robin Ficker ballot initiative approved by voters in the past, the Council must vote unanimously to raise property taxes above the charter limit. The CRC proposal, the latest attempt to do an end run around the popular "Ficker Amendment," would have dropped the unanimous vote requirement.

Councilmembers who voted against the CRC proposal were Marilyn Balcombe, Andrew Friedson, Natalie Fani-Gonzalez, Evan Glass, Sidney Katz, and Dawn Luedtke. The Councilmembers who voted for the proposal to remove the unanimous vote requirement were Gabe Albornoz, Will Jawando, Kristin Mink, Laurie-Ann Sayles, and Kate Stewart.

Montgomery County's high property taxes are one of several highly-regressive tax burdens on working families and residents who are on fixed incomes. Along with high property assessments, the annual payments have essentially become a second mortgage for many cash-strapped residents. The Ficker Amendment has provided relief from even-more-nightmarish tax bills since it was passed. That's because, as it is, the Council has raised property taxes on residents every year except for FY-2015.