Montgomery Council Gives Preliminary Approval to Property Tax Hike
The Montgomery County Council tentatively voted yesterday to increase the property tax rate next year, but by an amount that would not keep pace with inflation.</br></br>The plan, which will be debated for months to come, would result in a 3 percent budget increase for the fiscal year that begins next July. County school officials say the plan would not provide enough money to maintain existing programs, let alone provide a pay increase to all teachers.</br></br>Montgomery real estate values have sagged to the point that the county's property tax revenue will fall nearly $26 million behind inflation next year if the current tax rate remains unchanged.</br></br>The council, in a decision that it can override next spring, yesterday voted 8 to 1 to increase the property tax rate by less than 2 percent, or 4.4 cents per $100 of assessed value. The basic prop-</br></br>That would generate about $12.7 million in additional revenue, or half the amount needed to keep pace with expected inflation.