Montgomery County teachers could receive tax credit under new legislation

First responders get tax credits from Montgomery County. Now the council is contemplating extending credits to three more groups: homeowners whose incomes fall below a certain threshold, teachers and low-income parents.

Council member Kate Stewart said she is sponsoring the package of three bills to help address financial inequities among county residents.

“Many cannot afford to purchase a home here in the county, and those who do have homes are struggling to stay in them,” Stewart said at a press conference about the bills on Tuesday.

Opponents said the proposals unfairly favor certain groups.

One of the three bills would increase the county’s supplement to the state’s tax credit for homeowners with a household income of $106,800 or less.

The amount of credit would depend on the homeowner’s income level. This legislation is also sponsored by council members Shebra Evans, Andrew Friedson and Sidney Katz.

The second bill would grant $2,500 to Montgomery County Public School teachers and MCPS employees represented by unions. It is structured like the credit granted to the county’s first responders.

The third bill would give a $500 tax credit per child to parents making $15,000 or less.

At a public hearing Tuesday, more than a dozen speakers voiced support for the bills.

Supporters and detractors

Brenda Wolff, a member of the county school board, said the credit for teachers and school employees would make it easier for those workers to live in the increasingly expensive county. She said that more than 6,700 employees represented by SEIU Local 500 and the Montgomery County Education Association, the two MCPS unions, live outside the county.

“We cannot single-handedly address increasing inflation, rising costs of everyday items, or the high housing costs in this state, and neither can you,” Wolff said. “But we can combine our efforts to make a difference.”

Tamara Kelly, an administrative secretary with MCPS, said she and her partner struggle to make ends meet to afford housing, utilities, groceries, and transportation, even with two incomes. She said the tax credit would make a big difference.

“This bill will help people who make our public schools run stay in the communities that we serve,” she said. “It can make the difference between simply surviving and being able to remain securely in our homes, because in the end, if public employees cannot afford to live in the place that we work, what are we doing in Montgomery County?”

A couple of speakers dissented, frustrated that the council would prioritize these tax credits after eliminating another earlier this year.

During the county’s budget decisions in May, the council voted to scrap the county’s income tax offset credit (ITOC), which was set at $692. Homeowners who claimed their home as their principal residence had been eligible for the credit.

Gordie Brenne, treasurer of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League, said he found it “ironic” that the council would consider new tax credits for some groups when earlier in the year the council eliminated the ITOC.

Esther Wells, the Republican nominee for county executive, expressed similar concerns and accused the council of pandering to the county teachers union.

“This is a wealth transfer to fund the union contracts for the organizations that endorsed you,” she said.

Stewart said during Tuesday’s press conference that the ITOC was not as progressive as what she is proposing, since it was a flat rate credit that went to all eligible homeowners, regardless of income. Her proposals would grant larger credits to lower income residents.

“What we are proposing today are equitable property tax credits,” she said. “They will actually help families who need it the most more so than the ITOC did.”

The council’s Government Operations Committee will hold a work session on all three bills on Oct. 29. A final vote has not yet been scheduled.