Almost everybody is in agreement that Baltimore needs to lower its property tax rate which, at 2.248%, is almost twice that of the next highest county rate in the state. The rate is so high that it’s discouraging people and employers from moving here – and encouraging people and businesses to leave. We have a consensus. The question isn’t whether or not we lower the rate, but by what means and how quickly.
Category Archives: Economic Development
Which comes first?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know by now that Baltimore Rising is hell bent on initiating an all-inclusive economic recovery in the city. We’re talking about a turnaround of such nature and magnitude that it dramatically reduces unemployment and poverty.
Big TIF or Lots of Little TIFs?
This is the second in our series of posts about TIFs. A TIF – if you remember from our piece entitled “To TIF or Not To TIF?” which became an instant classic – stands for Tax Increment Financing.
The Economics of Dilution vs. Concentration
It is the mission of Baltimore Rising to start a fire. We talk about it all the time. Not the destructive kind. No. Of course not. What we’re talking about is igniting all-inclusive economic growth that will, sooner rather than later, clean up the mess that Baltimore has become over the past 60 years. Those are the 60 years during which the manufacturing sector of the city collapsed and, for one reason or another, one third of our population, mostly from the top down, disappeared. A good many of them abandoned the city for the safer, more prosperous, better educated suburbs.
To TIF or not to TIF?
Screenshot from the Baltimore Development Corporation website. Note the BDC’s slogan. Catchy, but what exactly does it mean?
Let’s talk briefly about TIFs. “To TIF or not to TIF?” isn’t really the question, but it makes for a catchy title. The real question isn’t whether or not, but where.
“Excuse me.”
Yes?
“What’s a TIF?”