Mayor Dixon on Revitilizing Communities
For many years, Baltimore has been plagued by problems associated with its large stock of vacant property. Periodically and repeatedly over the past decade, various government officials, housing experts and citizens have analyzed and discussed the benefits of creating a land bank to help address Baltimore’s vacant property problem. Perhaps overwhelmed by the enormity of the vacant property problem, or mired in the day-to-day task of managing the effects of the problem with limited resources, those discussions have never resulted in the creation of a land bank.
At my request, the Department of Housing and Community Development has developed a plan to create a land bank that can be implemented this calendar year. Our goal is to create a land bank entity with the responsibility and capability to efficiently acquire, manage and sell abandoned property for productive use. The goals and objectives will be linked to specific and measurable outcomes, including those listed below:
- Reduce the amount of privately owned abandoned and blighted property in Baltimore City to less than 7.5% of the overall total of properties in the City by 2012.
- Eliminate the speculative and predatory private tax sale market for abandoned property by 2010.
- Increase the number of newly constructed or rehabbed units of housing in blighted neighborhoods by 25% in three years beginning July 1, 2007.
Mayor Dixon on Tax Relief
As reported in my January 27, 2007 Transition Report, Baltimore City has the highest per capita tax effort (the extent to which the local tax base is actually taxed) in the State coupled with the second lowest tax capacity (potential base). The fiscal stress resulting from a highly taxed population that has a relatively low tax capacity has led city leaders at times to turn to piecemeal efforts at using tax expenditures such as tax credits and exemptions to provide targeted relief or to spur investment. Baltimore City's high real property tax rate, relative to the surrounding counties, creates a competitive disadvantage at a time when the City is striving to build back a revenue base that has significantly diminished over recent decades.
Less than two months in office, I appointed a blue ribbon committee to study and recommend ways to reform the local tax and fee structure for Baltimore City. With representatives from private and non-profit sectors, government and elected officials, the committee is charged with taking a long term, comprehensive approach to lowering the property tax burden on Baltimore City residents. Having met every two weeks since beginning its work in mid-March, the committee has set a preliminary target of reducing property taxes by 25 percent. With a final report expected in September, the committee will:
- Analyze and report on the factors contributing to the City's high property tax rate relative to surrounding Maryland counties.
- Research and report on the legal framework for and practice of financing local government in Maryland.
- Examine the recommendations to improve measurement, monitoring, and
management of the assessable tax base and equitably enhance the tax revenues to be derived from non-residential real property. - Review the City's existing tax and fee structure, including the various tax credits and exemptions currently in place, and report on the impact the existing measures have on the goals for a model tax and fee structure.
- Recommend changes to the current tax and fee structure that maximize attainment of the stated goals.
In addition, Baltimore City can lower property taxes by growing its tax base. Growing the tax base requires individuals and businesses to feel confident that an investment in Baltimore will produce a return. The city must continue to invest in making Baltimore City more livable – safer and cleaner streets, high performing public schools, accessible transit, well maintained parks, and thriving commercial districts.
Mayor Dixon on Slots
H.L. Mencken said, "For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple – and wrong." The question of whether slot machines are good or bad for Baltimore City does not lend itself to a simple answer.
On a personal level, I oppose legalizing slot machines at Pimlico Race Track and the Inner Harbor. Slots hold out false hope for the most vulnerable in our communities. I have witnessed first hand the painful consequences of addiction. The lives of too many people in our city have been devastated already by drug addiction, hopelessness, and despair. Neighborhoods such as Park Heights pay the price.
But as Baltimore's Mayor, I must temper my personal opposition to slots with the practical, political and fiscal realities at the state level. The Governor and leaders in the State Legislature appear increasingly disposed towards using slots revenues to help close the projected $1.4 billion state budget deficit.
The impact on Baltimore City of eliminating the structural deficit through budget cuts alone would be devastating. According to legislature analysts, the so called "doomsday" budget would cut state aid to Baltimore City by approximately $50 million, equal to a crippling 20 cent increase in the local property tax.
But any strategy for eliminating the state's structural deficit should not be achieved at the expense of the state's most vulnerable populations. Slots legislation must address and mitigate the social and financial costs associated with slots parlours.
According to various independent studies, slots will impose certain unavoidable costs on the state, its local jurisdictions, and its citizens. We know that there will be new costs associated with more traffic and police enforcement around gaming facilities, crime associated with those suffering from gambling addictions, and what economists call the substitution effect – how spending on slots would divert money from purchasing food, clothing, and non-gaming entertainment, for example.
In addition, any slots legislation that might pass should allocate meaningful funding to assist efforts to curb and treat the illness of compulsive gambling that already afflicts so many of our citizens. Secondly, slots should be integrally related to the economic development of communities surrounding the race tracks to minimize the negative impact of their presence in the affect communities
If slots are approved, my administration would advocate for the state retaining as much of the proceeds as possible for the benefit of Marylanders. Rather than benefit private interests, revenues from slot machines should be invested in rebuilding schools, revitalizing neighborhoods, protecting the environment, and strengthening our horse racing industry.
