Maryland Supreme Court hears arguments on ballot questions that would cut Baltimore taxes, pay new parents

The fate of two proposed ballot questions, one that would reduce Baltimore’s taxes and another that would offer payments to new city parents, hangs in the balance following oral arguments before Maryland’s highest court Wednesday.

The Supreme Court of Maryland took up the two cases after separate Baltimore Circuit Court judges found that each question should not appear on ballots for city voters to consider this fall. Each judge ruled that their respective question was outside the scope of changes that citizens are able to make to the city’s charter. The organizers behind each question collected more than 10,000 signatures from qualified city voters in an effort to place the questions on the ballot, one of two local methods to enact a change to the city’s charter.

The court, which took the matters under consideration, has a short window to rule on both ballot questions. The Maryland State Board of Elections is due to begin the process of printing ballots for the November election on Sept. 6.

The court heard arguments first from Renew Baltimore, a coalition of economists and former city officials who are seeking to slash and cap Baltimore’s property tax rate. The question, which organizers collected more than 23,000 signatures in support of, would nearly halve the city’s property tax rate over seven years, from 2.248% to 1.2%. The Baltimore City Board of Elections notified the group in July that the measure would be stricken from the ballot, arguing that only the mayor and City Council have the power to set the property tax rate.



https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/08/28/maryland-supreme-court-hears-arguments-on-ballot-questions-that-would-cut-baltimore-taxes-pay-new-parents/