the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 21, 2022
Maryland’s governor announced in early November that the state has excused real estate developers from paying more than 465 million dollars in property taxes since 1996 with a little-known tax break.
The Historic Revitalization Tax Credit, like a number of other tax breaks, lets developers pay little or no property tax on some buildings for a certain number of years. This year the state let the owner of the Fidelity Building in downtown Baltimore escape payment of five million dollars.
The governor says the developer of this property, consisting of very expensive apartments and stores, will get out of paying 45 million dollars total over the years. The owners of two other projects in Baltimore also were excused from paying well over one million dollars apiece this year.
And this tax break is not just in Baltimore. The developer of a property in Cambridge on the Eastern Shore, the Woolworth Building, was excused from paying more than four million dollars this year. The governor says that developer will avoid paying 16 million dollars total on the project.
Maryland officials hit up homeowners for sky-high property taxes, especially in Baltimore. But they slash taxes for rich developers—money that could pay for schools, roads, and water pipes.