It was no big surprise that the Prince George’s County Council approved a measure that would offer some elderly residents a property tax credit on top of the Homestead Credit they already receive.

However, this does not mean that there are no regulatory concerns.

County homeowners over 65 who have lived in their homes for 25 years are now eligible for the new loan, under the bill that was passed by the council by an 8-0 margin on Tuesday, with two abstaining. their home is worth no more than $500,000.

Aims to improve council’s tax credit passed just two years agoThis made more elderly residents eligible, but due to limited funding, not everyone who applied was accepted.

“There was a 99-year-old woman living in my district who had served in our public school system for over 30 years and couldn’t afford her property taxes,” said the bill’s primary sponsor, District 8 Council member Ed Burroughs. “He is at the end of his life and his family is stressing about whether he can stay in his home in this county.”

There were concerns from the county executive office that the way the bill was written could lead to confusion and uncertainty. In some cases, members of this office believed that the legislation contradicted itself.

Earlier this year, the council also passed a resolution creating a working group aimed at allaying some concerns about who is eligible for a tax credit and how it is determined.

“We were trying to work on this bill because two years ago it had maybe not gotten to where we all wanted to get to,” said John Erzen, deputy chief of staff for County Executive and newly elected President. Senator Angela Alsobrooks. “We can come right back after this bill with another bill when more seniors come forward and say, ‘I thought this would help me, but this didn’t help me,’” he said.

The working group, which he called on the council to hold, is expected to prepare its final report by the end of February. That’s why the county executive team is surprised by recent attempts to reintroduce this bill before the end of the legislative year.

Alsobrooks’ administration also warned that the cost of implementing this new tax credit would be between $59 million and $98 million over the next five years; because this is on top of the Homestead Credit currently available to residents. Because the current 10-year residency requirement will increase to 25 years, the administration has warned that approximately 15,000 residents who are currently eligible to apply for the extra loan will not be eligible in the future.

“Is the council prepared to say to seniors in the 10-year program, ‘you are eligible, you may not have received a loan, but because this has now increased and been extended to a 25-year program, you are out of credit?’” said Sakinda Skinner, the county government’s liaison to the council.

It was the financial impact on the borough that led Council Vice President Sydney Harrison to speak out against the loan. He said that could jeopardize the county’s budget, given that the county already faces a $158 million hole in next year’s budget. current triple-A bond rating.

“I’m not trying to cause a heart attack on the financial health of this county,” Harrison said. “We are playing Russian roulette with our AAA bond rating.”

And he wondered whether taxes on others would have to be increased to pay for this new loan.

“We will have to find money elsewhere and cut other institutions to provide this,” he said. “How this plays out in public safety, how this plays out across our 27 agencies to recoup this money; this is a real issue.”

“We didn’t have a discussion about our bond rating when we gave tax breaks to development,” said District 6 Council member Wala Blegay. “If we don’t cater to our seniors and give them something, we’re going to lose them, and that’s part of your impact on the budget.”

Burroughs said he saw the county council “waiving school surcharges … public safety surcharges for developers.”

“Isn’t it time we gave the same level of importance to the people who helped build this county? “The reason we are here is because of our elders,” he said.

Council member Wanika Fisher, in voting for the bill, said others who come before the council hoping for financial aid and more funding for certain programs should pay close attention to how this debate plays out.

“Passing this bill also means passing a statement about what we can do for the county,” Fisher said. “That’s the priority. Rental assistance will not be a priority. The priority will not be social services or housing. “Not all of these are priorities.”

The bill then heads to the county executive’s desk, and despite all the skepticism surrounding the legislation, it’s not certain it will be signed. But Alsobrooks’ staff also said it was too early to say whether he was considering a veto.

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