CAMBRIDGE, Md. - The debate over a tax rebate in Dorchester County came to a head Tuesday night.
The rebate, known as a tax differential, has been provided to property owners in Cambridge and Hurlock since 2007. It compensates them for services they already pay for through municipal taxes, such as policing and road maintenance.
The rebate was the center of discussion at the Dorchester County Council meeting, where leaders had been considering eliminating the differential to address a nearly $6 million budget shortfall.
Instead of cutting the differential, the county came up with a compromise. Council members voted to preserve the tax break. Council President Lenny Pfeffer said the county will instead raise property taxes for all county property owners by 3 cents.
“$0.03 is about $1.02 million for the county. So that took, you know, $1 million out of our original $5 million deficit,” said Pfeffer.
The decision came as a relief to the mayors of Cambridge and Hurlock.
“I’m not surprised this was the direction, I believed and hoped it was going to go in,” said Lajan Cephas, mayor of Cambridge.
“They heard the voice of the people,” said Mayor Charles Cephas of Hurlock.
However, the budget adjustments had consequences for other line items. The Cambridge Empowerment Center learned that it would not receive its typical funding from the county, which is usually around $30,000.
“The summer program is for children ages 5 to 12. And this is a nine-week program full time for these children. And there’s a pretty good chance we’re not going to be able to run it for nine weeks because of budget,” said Christina Driscoll, a board member with the center.
“This summer, the Dorchester County Public Schools are not operating a summer school for children. So our program is even more important than ever. And there’s a lack of funds for a lot of nonprofits. So we’re getting nervous about that,” said Julia Barker, vice chair of the center.
The cuts extend to all nonprofits in the county.
“Unfortunately, this year we had to go line by line through the budget, and that was one area that we just had to get rid of,” said Pfeffer.
Pfeffer said the council was ultimately able to balance the county’s budget. The plan must be submitted to the state by the end of the month.