A second-home tax in Annapolis? Anne Arundel executive candidates say maybe.

Move over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, it’s Maryland’s turn for a tax on luxury second homes.

Or to talk about it, at least.

Three Democratic candidates for Anne Arundel County executive said Thursday night that they’d at least look at a tax on luxury homes whose owners don’t live in them full-time, which are sometimes known as a pied-à-terre.

County Councilman Pete Smith, James Kitchin, a special assistant to County Executive Steuart Pittman, and County Councilwoman Allison Pickard all said they would consider such a tax in response to a question at a forum hosted by the Anne Arundel Affordable Housing Coalition.

The idea of a pied-à-terre tax is to tax secondary properties, valued over a certain amount, at a higher rate than primary residences. On April 14, Hochul said her budget proposal would levy a surcharge on secondary homes in New York City valued at $5 million or more.

The next day, Mamdani, a self-identified Democratic socialist, made waves with a video discussing the tax outside a pied-à-terre owned by Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel.

The mayor described it as “taxing the rich.”

“As mayor, I believe everyone has a role to play in contributing to our city. And some a little bit more than others,” Mamdani said in the video.

Hochul and Mamdani both estimate that the tax could bring in $500 million a year to New York City’s coffers.

Pickard said the availability of housing in Anne Arundel County is “dire” at all income levels, and so leaders need to “look at critical and creative and innovative ideas to figure out how we’re going to turn the ship around.”

Kitchin said he would go to the Maryland General Assembly and ask for the authority to have a progressive property tax in the county.

“So I think that’s absolutely something that needs to be looked at,” he said.

Smith said the county budget should probably be about $1 billion higher than it it is, based on population, and the county needs to do some “drastic things,” to bring in more money.

“We need in the tunes of hundreds of millions of dollars in reoccurring revenue to take care of all things that are going to make your quality of life special,” he said.

None of the three candidates went out on the limb of proposing a specific new tax structure. And all discussed various ideas to boost housing affordability during the forum.

The average home price in Anne Arundel County is over $505,000, according to Zillow. There are 15 homes listed on the website for $5 million or more.

Mary Grace Gallagher, the forum attendee who asked the question, said she was satisfied with the candidates’ answers. In her Annapolis neighborhood, she said, there are many neighbors who don’t live there most of the time.

She said it’s become a community “for the people who only want to live here the nicest four months of the year.”

“And they don’t care about our schools. They don’t care where our teachers live. They don’t care about any of it,” she said. “They come in here, live in their beautiful homes, and then yacht out.”

The Anne Arundel Affordable Housing Coalition, which hosted the forum, invited Democratic candidate Kyle Nembhard, who was originally slated to attend but had another obligation come up. The commission said it also invited Republican candidate Dave Crawford, who did not attend.

The primary election is is June 23. Early voting begins June 11.