* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Clarke
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Information Hearing - Tax Sale Protections for Baltimore City Owner Occupants and Responsible Landlords of Affordable and Code-Compliant Rental Units
FOR the purpose of requesting that the Director of Finance and the Chief of the Department of Treasury Management brief the Council regarding what remedies for negative and unintended consequences of tax sale policy are within the City's local jurisdiction to legislate and what remedies are for General Assembly enactment.
Body
WHEREAS, In an era of Affordable Housing initiatives, Baltimore City must protect its base of moderate-income homeowner-occupants and responsible landlords of code-compliant and affordable units from losing their homes to property tax sales based on overdue bills unrelated to annual property taxes and on minimal overdue taxes for which property owners have agreed to a City schedule for repayment; and
WHEREAS, The media reports that over 400 City homes have been lost over debts other than property taxes in the past three years, mainly from unpaid water and sewer bills, alley repaving charges, sidewalk repairs and even fees to register rental property; and
WHEREAS, Roughly half of those foreclosures involved unpaid charges of $500 or less, evolving into thousands of dollars for redemption under the City's private debt collection system, with its mounting and unaccountable interest-and-fee allowances; and
WHEREAS, The City Council is currently considering inclusive housing legislation that requires the construction of affordable rental and home-ownership units to accommodate the City's working and moderate-income residents; and
WHEREAS, The City is meanwhile losing affordable home ownership and rental units to its tax sale process, to the detriment of the City's goals; and
WHEREAS, Maryland subdivisions have the right to exclude certain liens, such as water, waste water, alley repaving and pavement repaving charges from those liens that require tax sale referral; and
WHEREAS, Senator George Della has already amended the City Charter to provide that Environmental Citations on their own cannot force a property into tax sale; and
WHEREAS, Councilman Bernard "Jack" Young and co-sponsors have reintroduced legislation to exclude water and sewer charges from residential tax sale liability (07-0626), an especially urgent issue given proposed new increases in these City charges; and
WHEREAS, The City's Affordable Housing policy should embrace the exemption of non-property tax liens from tax sale foreclosure pertaining to properties that are not declared as vacant; and
WHEREAS, In light of this same Affordable Housing policy, City Council also seeks to examine and reconsider the City's policy of selling its collection rights to tax sale investors for residential properties that are not declared vacant and on which minimal overdue liens and taxes are owed; and
WHEREAS, Such a referral cap on overdue tax amounts will afford homeowners, many of them senior citizens, the time and notice to make late payments to the City directly without the imposition of unaffordable tax investor charges; and
WHEREAS, In accordance with our City's efforts to achieve transparency in actions and policies affecting our citizens, the City Council seeks as well to review and recommend improvements to the effectiveness of our notice to homeowners of their tax sale liability.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body requests an immediate hearing of all related agencies, most especially Finance and Treasury Management, to outline what remedies for negative and "unintended consequences" of tax sale policy are within the City's local jurisdiction to legislate and what remedies are reserved for General Assembly enactment.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Governor, the Mayor, the Chief of Treasury Management, the Director of Finance, the Baltimore City Delegation to the Maryland General Assembly, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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