Tim Bynum
Lightening the tax load by Anne E. O’Malley It doesn’t seem right that on a street where the houses and lots are nearly identical that one homeowner might pay 100- to 150-percent more in taxes than his next-door neighbor. But that’s the case in too many instances, and according to County Council member Tim Bynum, the Council’s Finance, Parks and Public Works program chair, something can and must be done about it.
Bynum’s been researching the mounting real property tax issues for the past five years, since he first took office. What is clear to him is that the Permanent Home Use Provision needs retooling. Implemented as a temporary measure in 2004 to protect resident homeowners from the big run-up in home values, the provision is commonly known as the 2 percent cap.
“It was initially effective in keeping homeowner taxes low as values escalated,� says Bynum, “but now it’s having the opposite effect. Home values are falling, but tax bills keep rising, and residents who have bought homes since 2004 see their taxes reset—often much higher than those of their neighbors.� Here comes the kicker. “In the past three years, owners of real
In his outdoor office at Lydgate Park. County Council Member Tim Bynum proposes tax changes to benefit resident homeowners. Photo by Anne E. O’Malley
property in the seven tax classes involving non residents have received a tax reduction totaling nearly $24M; in the same period,
real property owners in the resident homestead tax class took a blow—their taxes increased by $3.1M.�
Bynum— man with a plan What Bynum needed in order to craft a solution, and what see Bynum page 15
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