Election Candidates Discuss Taxes

 approached  with 11 topics of citizen concern, and we've compiled their responses for your consideration.

Below is their take on taxes in Havre de Grace, with incumbents listed first and challengers listed second, in alphabetical order:

Cullum broke it down in the simplest of terms: the average taxpayer saves about $25 a year with a one-cent cut to the tax rate. On the flip side, the city gains approximately $137,000 with every penny on the rate.

“We can pave a lot of streets and do a lot of things with $137,000,” Cullum said. “I know everybody wants their taxes lowered. I pay the same taxes as everyone and I want mine lowered, too. But also, know there are certain things we have to provide and we need the finances to do that.”

Oftentimes, Cullum pointed out, those taxes go towards the undervalued things a city brings.

“There are a lot of things the city does on a daily basis that we may not realize,” he said.

Bill Martin

Martin is proud of the consistency in cuts since he’s been on council and he sees it as way the government is being responsible with residents’ dollars.

“When I first got on council in 2008 the tax rate was 65 cents. This year, the rate is currently 59. The mayor’s budget calls for it to be down to 58,” he said, noting the rate would remain under the constant yield.

“It’s not a big cut, but a cut nonetheless, and what I call a responsible tax cut. There’s a drastic cut that could wind up with bad effects,” Martin said.

Martin said, with the current economy in mind, taxes aren’t an area for officials to play politics.

“Everybody is hurting,” Martin said. “I support responsible tax cuts.”

Jim Miller

Miller proposed a five-cent cut last year without cutting any services or jobs. This year, he’d prefer the city to hold onto the money.

“I would like to keep the $140,000. I think there are projects we could do in the city that would benefit all the residents in the city,” he said. “We could do that by keeping that money in-house.”

Miller pointed to the city’s parks, sidewalks and paving as some of the areas where the money could be spent.

“We have things on the list to do, and some other special projects, like the opera house,” he said. “They want to upgrade it. But we don’t have enough money to do the project at one time.”

Dave Glenn

Glenn wants all avenues explored before the city goes to its residents with an outstretched hand.

“An increase in taxes needs to be a last option,” he said. “When you can give tax breaks and tax cuts, you’ve got to be supportive of that, especially in the current economic times when everybody is struggling.”

Glenn hears the argument about the benefit the city would receive from every penny on the tax rate, but he’s concerned with making things easy for residents.

“That’s great,” he said of the $25-to-$140,000 comparison. “But at the same time, families are struggling too, not just the city. It’s a give and take situation.”

Robert Sawyer

Sawyer is in favor of the proposed one-penny cut to the tax rate.

His concern with taxes is more about the high tax assessments on properties in Bulle Rock.

Sawyer said his home would have to be sold at $50,000 to $60,000 below market value simply to get to settlement.

“Typically, historically your assessed value was about 80 percent of your actual value. Now it seems like its 120 percent of your actual value,” he said. “They’re trying to maintain that revenue stream by overestimating people’s values. I think that is probably the wrong way to go about it.”

Barry Scharbrough

Scharbrough is in full support of providing whatever relief possible to homeowners and business owners.

“I agree with the proposal to continue reducing the property taxes for businesses as well as the individual tax rate. That frees up money for local residents to spend that money with downtown businesses and keep them thriving,” he said. “It benefits everybody. We just need to make sure we can do it within the confines of economic conditions.”

Scharbrough marvels at the city’s ability to scale back the tax rate annually.

“I commend the administration for that. Based upon the economic times, many cities wouldn’t be able to do that without cutting core services,” he said. “Havre de Grace has been able to do that and I think that’s wonderful.”

Smith said nobody enjoys paying taxes, and he’s included—noting that he’s likely in the upper echelon of taxpayers.

“My approach to taxes is that if we’re going to have a government, we have to pay taxes. It’s the price of citizenship,” Smith said. “What do people value?”

Smith said taxes boil down to a decision on what is valuable to residents.

“I think we all want to pay less, but it comes down to: are we spending the money wisely? We pay taxes for public safety, water and sewer, and we have to use some of the tax base to fund investments, and it’s a blend of both,” he said.

As far as relief, Smith said the city could ease the tax burden on residents with the expected growth in population in the community.

“If we grow the way it’s expected, and double the population, will the increase in residents and property taxes, does that keep up with it,” he said. “The more people that come in, the rates can come down. The more people you have, you can spread the cost.”

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For more on the election, read here.

The Havre de Grace Election will be held May 8 at the  Hall on Pennington Avenue.

Stay with Patch for ongoing coverage leading up to the election.