BALTIMORE — Attorneys for Renew Baltimore, a coalition to cap the city's property tax rate, filed a complaint with the Baltimore City Circuit Court to overturn the Board of Elections Director's decision to reject their petition.
The petition aimed to amend the City Charter through a ballot referendum in November's general election.
Board of Elections Director Armstead Jones made the decision just last week, claiming the law it seeks to enact would be "unconstitutional."
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"State law provides that the power to set a specific property tax rate in the counties and Baltimore City must remain with the County or City Council. Maryland's highest court has held that under this rule, a petition-initiated charter amendment may not set a specific property tax rate," Jones said in letter to Renew Baltimore.
Renew Baltimore says the petition is legally permissible with state law, citing five other Maryland jurisdictions with legal limits on their property taxes.
The group's plan would lower the tax rate slowly over a period of seven years.
