Baltimore Official Backs Tax Hike To Fund Affordable Housing
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young has backed a proposed tax increase on certain property sales to raise an estimated $20 million for affordable housing.
The Baltimore Sun reports the funds would go toward the affordable housing trust fund voters approved in 2016. The fund currently doesn't have an assigned revenue source. The bill was proposed to the city council on Monday and would increase the city's 1.5 percent transfer tax to 2.1 percent. It would also increase the recordation tax from 1 percent to 1.4 percent
These increases would apply only to properties sold to owners who intend to rent the buildings, not to buyers who plan to live in them. By exempting would-be homeowners, the tax proposal could face opposition from developers and landlords.
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