Budget and Taxation Committee advances a slate of property‑tax and housing bills, holds several for more work

The Budget and Taxation Committee reviewed and, in most cases, voted to advance a wide group of property‑tax and housing bills during a session in which committee members sought technical clarifications on several measures.

Moderator read summaries of each bill and the committee typically approved them by voice vote or advanced them with sponsor amendments. Among the more consequential items, House Bill 359 would revise the optional local property tax credit for urban agricultural property by removing acreage and priority‑funding‑area requirements, broadening eligible urban‑ag activities and requiring jurisdictions to provide at least one year’s public notice and an opportunity for comment and appeal before terminating the credit. The committee indicated consensus to advance that measure.

House Bill 571, narrowed by amendment to apply only to low‑income housing tax credit projects, would treat subsidiary entities of nonprofit housing corporations like housing‑authority subsidiaries for tax‑exemption purposes. Committee discussion framed the change as supplying greater predictability for nonprofit developers; municipal and county associations (MML and MaCo) and Montgomery County reported no position after the amendment.

On tax‑sale protections, House Bill 753 would add protections from tax sale for homeowners with terminal illnesses or medical hardship, give those homeowners priority in the Homeowner Protection Program and raise the dwelling‑value cap for the program from $300,000 to $450,000. The bill also directs the state tax‑sale ombudsman to create a process allowing homeowners to designate family or other representatives to communicate and work with the ombudsman and the program. Committee members asked about the program’s funding source and whether the medical documentation requirement should use broader language ("licensed qualified health care provider" rather than "physician"); the committee elected to hold further action while staff checks funding and technical language.

House Bill 805 would authorize local governments to grant a property tax credit for homes sold under nonprofit resale or shared‑equity arrangements (examples cited included Habitat for Humanity models). The proposal limits eligibility to dwellings with a nonprofit mortgage or deed of trust and a legally binding affordability agreement of at least 20 years; the credit would bridge the difference between the tax on full assessed value and the homeowner’s share tied to the first mortgage. Committee members requested additional detail about whether and how the credit would apply to the nonprofit’s ownership share; the committee held the bill for further review.

The committee approved a sponsor amendment and advanced House Bill 809, which defines components of the Walter Sondheim Junior Public Service Internship Scholarship Program, raises the maximum scholarship award from $5,000 to $6,000 and reduces the mandatory appropriation percentage in the amended language. Fiscal figures cited in discussion referenced the prior appropriation formula (150% of fiscal‑year‑2020 levels equaling $175,000/year for the original bill).

Other items advanced included: House Bill 842, authorizing local property‑tax credits for surviving spouses of military service members who do not qualify for existing exemptions; House Bill 1096, which would require counties to include a website address or QR code on property‑tax bills linking taxpayers to a county page that lists available property‑tax credits and application instructions; and House Bill 1330, which would permit year‑round filing for the homeowner property‑tax credit beginning in fiscal 2028 (the committee asked staff to solicit any department comment before final action).

Several local and administrative measures were handled with limited discussion and advanced, including HB 1160 (Calvert County code reference update), HB 1513 (Calvert specialty bonds), HB 1369 (cross file establishing an Audit and Finance Compliance Unit), HB 1422 (DBM salary‑setting for certain CFO positions) and HB 1578 (reauthorization and reporting changes for the Minority Business Enterprise Program).

Two items were explicitly held for further work: HB 805 (the nonprofit‑resale/credit mechanism) and HB 1176 (a Howard County local bill that would set a minimum percentage of county general‑fund revenue to fund the Board of Education; members said they lacked the amendment text and held the bill). For bills where the transcript records a voice vote with no opposition, the committee moved them forward; where members requested agency input or raised technical drafting questions, staff were asked to follow up.

The session concluded with no additional bills on the floor.

What happens next: bills advanced by the committee will move through the usual legislative workflow; items the committee held will return when staff and sponsors supply the technical fixes or requested fiscal information.