Harford County, MD FY 24 Proposed Capital Budget & Capital Improvement Program

DEDICATED CAPITAL FUNDING

TRANSFER TAX Harford County's Transfer Tax was instituted in response to a recommendation from the 1991 Blue Ribbon Committee on School Construction. As a result the County Executive requested the local delegation to the Maryland General Assembly introduce legislation in the 1992 General Session to allow the County the ability to establish by local law a Transfer Tax. The Maryland General Assembly enacted House Bill No. 1481, effective July 1, 1992, authorizing the Harford County Council to impose a Transfer Tax. Subsequently, the County Council enacted Bill No. 93-3 to add new Article IV, Transfer Tax to Chapter 123, Finance and Taxation, of the Harford County Code which imposes a 1% Transfer Tax on any instruments of writing that convey title to, or a leasehold interest in, real property, effective July 1, 1993. The Transfer Tax rate is 1% of the consideration payable and the proceeds are to be distributed as follows: Agricultural Land Preservation Program 50.0% Public School Construction Program 50.0% 100.0% For FY 24 Transfer Tax revenues are appropriated as follows: Harford County's FY 24 Operating Budget From FY 24 Estimated Transfer Tax Receipts: $19,000,000 Agricultural Preservation Fund $9,500,000 Board of Education Debt Service $9,500,000 Principal Payments $7,432,838 Interest Payments 2,067,162 $9,500,000 PUBLIC SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEE The Maryland General Assembly adopted House Bill 965 (Article 24, Subtitle 10A, Harford County School Construction Financing, Section 9-10A-01) in 2004. The bill states, "the County Council of Harford County, by ordinance, may fix, impose, and provide for the collection of a development impact fee not to exceed $10,000 for new construction or development." The revenue from the development impact fee may only be used for: (1) School site acquisition;

(2) School construction; (3) School renovation; (4) School debt reduction; or (5) School capital expenses."

On June 10, 2005, The County Council of Harford County, Maryland enacted, as amended, Bill No. 05-21, that added Article VI, Public School Development Impact Fee, to Chapter 123, Finance and Taxation, of the Harford County Code. This legislation assures that new development contributes its fair share towards the costs of public schools reasonably necessitated by such new development, and to ensure that new development is reasonably benefited by the construction of new public schools built in whole or in part with the proceeds of development impact fees. On December 1, 2009, the County Council enacted Bill No. 09-37 which lowered the impact fee charge as shown in the following table. The purpose of the roll-back in the fee structure was to provide an economic stimulus to the local housing market during the current economic recession.

Fiscal Year

Type of Residential Development

2010

2011

2012

Single Family Detached Townhouse / Duplex

$8,269 / $6,000 5,720 / 4,200 1,637 / 1,200

$6,000 4,200 1,200

$6,000 4,200 1,200

All Other Residential (including Mobile Homes)

Bill No. 05-21 provided for exemptions from the development impact fee for residential housing for the elderly and continuing care retirement communities. Development Impact Fee revenues for the last four completed fiscal years and the projected amount for Fiscal Year 2024 are presented in the following table: Fiscal Year Public Schools 2019 3,438,000 2020 3,660,600 2021 4,000,200 2022 2,579,400 2023* 3,500,000 2024* 2,300,000 *Estimate

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