The Gazette has an article about yesterday's County Affairs
Committee meeting in Annapolis. I was present at the meeting. It
was VERY clear that the Homestead Tax Credit bill will not survive.
Of the 6 delegates on the committee, 2 voted to kill the bill and
the other 4 voted to special order (postpone) it, but the Chair made
it clear that the "spcial order" was a courtesy and that if the
County Exec did not formally withdraw the bill by next week, that
the Committee would kill it.

Contrary to the Gazette article (below) Ross did NOT say the County
Exec had withdrawn it - he said the County Exec was "going to."

However, be sure you read the article below. The transit "tax"
bill, which was not mentioned at the meeting, is NOT dead. This
could have the same effect - keep your eye on that one.

From the Gazette:

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) backed off from
his call to raise the Homestead Property Tax Credit in the General
Assembly as support among legislators continued to slip away.

At a meeting Feb. 19 in Annapolis, Del. Justin D. Ross (D-Dist. 22)
of Greenbelt said the executive had withdrawn his request for the
legislature to approve raising the county's annual allowed increase
on property assessment to 10 percent.

"He has informed us that it is being withdrawn," Ross said at the
meeting of the delegation's County Affairs subcommittee, which had
been scheduled to discuss the controversial tax increase. "I think
it's safe to say there's not much support."

Johnson's Chief of Staff Michael Herman clarified that the bill
wasn't officially withdrawn, but put "on hold" as the county looks
for different funding sources to balance its projected $132 million
deficit.

"We've always said this was the last resort," Herman said. "We are
trying to find other ways."

Johnson has said he now hopes that Maryland's estimated $3.8 billion
share of the federal stimulus will restore about $60 million that
Maryland cut from the county, making the increase unnecessary. Staff
members said Johnson is still pursuing a bill that would let the
county raise a 2.6 cent transit tax that homeowners pay for every
$100 of their home's assessed value.

"If we are made whole, we will probably not need the Homestead
[increase]," Johnson told The Gazette's editorial board on Feb. 18,
the day before he met with leaders in Annapolis. "But I wanted to
put it on the table, to let [people] know there wasn't a free ride."

The retreat from the controversial proposal comes after two weeks of
campaigning by Johnson, who has said raising the amount homeowners
pay on their property assessments was the best way to avoid cutting
police, education and public safety jobs in the upcoming budget.

The change, which would have increased the property taxes for the
owner of a $246,0000 home by about $235 next year, has been met with
overwhelming criticism since Johnson proposed it Feb. 4. Hundreds of
people turned out to a public hearing last week to oppose the
measure, which they said is unfair to homeowners struggling in the
recession.

E-mails have been flooding the inboxes of county legislators,
several of whom said they can't support the hike.

"I certainly hope he withdraws it," said Del. Doyle L. Niemann (D-
Dist. 47) of Mount Rainier. "I would certainly vote against it."

"It had no traction here in Annapolis," said state Sen. Douglas J.J.
Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie. "The public has said no more taxes."

Opponents of the increase cheered the news.

"I'm pleased to see that there are some people who seem to
understand the will of the people," said Mykel Harris, chairman of
the county's Republican Central Committee. "This bill defied common
sense and proper procedure."

Harris and others said they are still concerned about Johnson's
proposal to lift transit taxes by an unknown amount.