While Carroll County Government has proposed a property tax increase (2 cents) the town of Sykesville has gone the other direction and proposed a property tax decrease (1 cent) the their 2024-2025 proposed budget.
The Sykesville Town Council unveiled their proposed annual budget and re tax rate for the fiscal year 2024-2025. Mayor Link called the budget “a roadmap to greatness, a blueprint for progress, and a testament to our collective vision for a brighter future.” The mayor thanked the Council and Staff for their hard work and advise. She conveyed the reduction to the real estate tax rate to “only happens because of those who come before us, and the Council some of which are still sitting here” and others.
Notably, the budget marks a historic milestone as the largest on record for the Town. According to Town Manager, Joe Consentini attributes this primarily due to a number of capital projects totaling over 4 million dollars. Much of these funds stem from grants and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (COVID funds).
During the meeting, Consentini outlined other major expenses, including merit salary increases, a full time police officer hired, and a 10% increase in employee health and retirement benefits. Meanwhile, income tax revenue has been steadily increasing.
Currently, the real property tax is 33 cents. In this budget, the Council has proposed a one-cent reduction for taxpayers. The Council unanimously moved to approve the introduction of the budget with real property tax reduction and set a public meeting to be held on May 13, 2024 to receive any feedback from residents.
This meeting on April 22nd can be seen in its entirety at: https://www.facebook.com/carrollmediacenter/videos/429875799625088
Note – Special thanks to Linda Grasley for many of the details above
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The following is an excerpt from the Sykesville Town Managers Budget Message in the proposed budget:
“The proposed property tax rate will be lower than the current rate by $0.01 making the new rate $0.32 per $100.00 of assessed value. This is still slightly higher than the Constant Yield Tax Rate (CYTR) recommended by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation at $0.3186. The CYTR is calculated by the State for each taxing authority in Maryland and represents the property tax rate for the coming tax year that will generate the same amount of revenue that was generated during the current tax year. The reduction in the property tax rate will result in a $58,000.00 reduction in estimated collections if the rate had remained at $0.33.”
You can view the full proposed budget for Sykesville here: https://townofsykesville.org/DocumentCenter/View/3922/Draft-Full-Budget-Packet
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