As is often the case in Charm City, there’s good news and bad news.
 

First the good news. Back in his first mayoral campaign, Brandon Scott said he understood that “high property taxes not only dissuade potential home buyers but cost those who do choose to buy in the city potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost equity over a homeowner’s lifetime. This is deeply inequitable to the city’s homeowners.” In the current legislative session, the mayor has finally put forth a plan to bring some much-needed relief to city homeowners.
 

The bad news is that this plan won’t work.
 

In a nutshell, the mayor hopes to bank a couple hundred million dollars by raising the sales tax rate in the city from 6% to 8%. With this new money, the mayor promises $1,000 in property tax rebates to each city homeowner, as well as rental assistance.

If this sounds like regressively robbing Peter to progressively pay Paul, that’s because it is. Sales taxes are highly regressive, taking a disproportionate share of receipts from the poor — even in deep-blue Maryland, which exempts many necessities from coverage.


Read the full commentary here