Council to introduce bill to streamline property tax credit application process for elderly individuals and retired military services members on May 1

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Council to introduce bill to streamline property tax credit
application process for elderly individuals and
retired military services members
on May 1
Also on May 1: Council will introduce bill on transportation mitigation payments and hold worksession on compensation and benefits for County government employees and collective bargaining agreements

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 30, 2018—The Montgomery County Council will meet at 9:30 a.m. on May 1 in the third floor Council hearing room. During the meeting, the Council will introduce a bill that will streamline the application process for elderly individuals and retired military services members, who are eligible for property tax credits. Councilmember George Leventhal is the lead sponsor for Expedited Bill 17-18, Property Tax Credit Elderly Individuals and Retired Military Services Members-Application. Councilmembers Craig Rice, Sidney Katz and Nancy Floreen are cosponsors.

Expedited Bill 17-18 would streamline the application process for elderly individuals and retired military services members who apply to receive the property tax credit. It would remove the requirement for an individual to apply every year that the individual is eligible to receive the credit. Instead, an individual would apply for the credit the first year and would automatically receive the credit for four additional years if the individual remains eligible for the credit. The bill would apply retroactively so that individuals who missed the April 1, 2018 deadline for the second year of the credit would still receive the credit for the tax year that begins on July 1.

The staff report can be viewed here.

The Council also will introduce Expedited Bill 16-18, Taxation – Transportation Mitigation Payment – Credit. Councilmember Nancy Floreen is the lead sponsor. Councilmembers Sidney Katz and Craig Rice are cosponsors. Expedited Bill 16-18 would authorize the Director of Finance to refund a transportation mitigation payment or give the property owner a credit against the development impact tax for transportation due for the development in the amount of any transportation mitigation payment made for the same development prior to March 1, 2017.

The staff report can be viewed here.

The Council will begin its worksession on the County Executive’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Operating Budget. The Council will deliberate and vote on the budget items listed below:

• Overall compensation and benefits

The staff report can be found here.

• Resolution to indicate the Council’s intent to approve or reject provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Lodge 35

The staff report can be found here.

• Resolution to indicate the Council’s intent to approve or reject provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreements with the Municipal & County Government Employees’ Organization (MCGEO), Local 1994

The staff report can be found here.

• Resolution to indicate the Council’s intent to approve or reject provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Montgomery County Career Fire Fighters Association of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Local 1664

The staff report can be found here.

• Resolution to indicate the Council’s intent to approve or reject provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association (MCVFRA)

The staff report can be found here.

The Council will meet with Dr. Travis Gayles, County Health Officer to get an update on health issues in the County on July 24, 2018.

The Council will hold the following public hearing at 7:30 p.m.:

• Special appropriation – Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) - $373,957 for legal representation for residents detained because of deportation proceedings
  The special appropriation would provide funding to the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition for legal representation for low-income residents detained because of deportation proceedings. Individuals are routinely detained during deportation proceedings and are often required to litigate their cases without attorneys.

The staff report can be found here.

After the Council session, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment (T&E) and Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committees will meet jointly to review the implementation of Council Resolution 18-804: Policy Guidelines and Fossil Fuel Company Investments by the Board of Investment Trustees of the Employees’ Retirement System and Board of Trustees of the Consolidated Retiree Health Benefits Trust.

Council Resolution 18-804 would explore all means possible to minimize the board's investments in companies with the largest fossil fuel reserves as rapidly as possible and apply environmentally and economically-sound decision making, both generally and specific to climate change, using Environmental, Social, and Governance Investment Policy Guidelines. The board also would report within six months after adoption of this resolution and annually thereafter to the Council and the Executive on implementation of these actions

The staff report can be viewed here.

The Council and Committee meetings will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM). The channel can be viewed on Cable Channels 996 (high definition) and 6 (standard definition) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; and Channel 30 on Verizon. The meetings also will be available live via streaming through the Council website at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .

 # # #

Release ID: 18-126
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 2407777926, Juan Jovel 2407777931