CAMBRIDGE, Md. - A former Cambridge city leader is speaking out against the potential elimination of the tax differential in Dorchester County.
In 2007, a tax rebate—also known as the differential—was introduced to benefit property owners in Cambridge and Hurlock. The rebate compensates residents for services such as policing and road maintenance, which are already covered through municipal taxes.
“At the time I was mayor, fully over half of the housing stock was rentals,” said Cleveland Rippons, the former mayor of Cambridge.
Rippons, who served as mayor from 2000 to 2008, was the one who suggested the rebate. He remains opposed to ending it, arguing that residents should receive full county services if they’re paying full taxes.
“If we're paying 100% like everybody else, provide 100% of the services,” said Rippons.
Dorchester County is currently facing a multi-million dollar deficit, and county leaders are considering the rebate’s elimination as one way to balance the budget.
“If we don't pay the push downs that they're [Maryland officials] doing to us right now between education and teacher pensions, then they will withhold our income tax. So we'll pay a budget without those numbers in line, and then they will withhold our income tax in the middle of the fiscal year. We won't have the money to operate the county,” said Lenny Pfeffer, president of the Dorchester County Council.
“We understand that the mayors of the cities of Hurlock and Cambridge are concerned about their citizens. And we are too, they're our constituents as well. People need to realize that we don't have to give a differential,” Pfeffer added.
If the tax differential is eliminated, Dorchester would become the only Mid-Shore county without a rebate in place.
The Dorchester County Council is holding a second public hearing on the matter on Tuesday, May 13 and plans to vote during its meeting on Tuesday, May 20.