In Bowie, Property Tax to Remain Unchanged

 and , but residents of Bowie can expect their property tax rate to remain unchanged in the fiscal year 2013 budget.

Last night, the City of Bowie held a public hearing regarding its constant yield rate. The concept of constant yield as defined by the Maryland State Department of Taxation and Assessments is that as property values rise, the taxes on the property should decrease so that the revenue derived from property taxes remains constant. The idea is to ensure that there is a constant, reliable source of revenue.

Based on constant yield, the Bowie tax rate should be 39.6 cents per $100 of a property’s assessed value. Bowie City Manager David Deutsch recommended that the property tax rate for Bowie homeowners remain unchanged at 40 cents per $100 of the property’s assessed value.

Deutsch’s said that the current rate and the constant yield rate were nearly identical, and that there were some other revenue shortfalls expected by the city, so he was not recommending reducing the property tax rate by .4 cents.

The mayor and city council will be holding budget worksessions on Wednesday, May 9 and Monday, May 14 at 8 p.m. at city hall. They are expected to take action on the budget at the Monday, May 21 regular council meeting.