The Homestead Property Tax Credit is a statutory limit on the amount an assessment increase may affect a taxpayer’s tax burden. This is important for owner-occupied dwellings as a provision of a property tax credit against large assessment increases that functions much the same as a cap.
In an effort to help reduce the tax burden for full-time Garrett County residents, The Board of Garrett County Commissioners proposes to lower this rate. This could cap the increased taxable assessment at 3% per year.
Any residents with Garrett County declared as a primary residence can submit the Homestead application. Due to the state’s process, the limitation reduction would be applied in Fiscal Year 2025.
Since 1977, State law provided that owner-occupied dwellings were not taxed on annual assessment increases that exceed 15%.
During the 1990 and 1991 Sessions of the General Assembly, significant changes were made to the Homestead Property Tax Credit Program. For the first time, the credit was applied to the State property tax to limit taxable assessment increases for homeowners to 10% annually. Additionally, each county was mandated to adopt a local ordinance or resolution specifying a local percentage of 0% to 10% for purposes of local property taxation.
Homestead Property Tax Credit Implementation
The Homestead Credit percentage selected by each county is expressed as a percentage increase from the prior year’s assessment. If a municipality disagrees with the Homestead Credit Percentage specified by its county, municipal officials may set their own limit between 0% and 10%. If a municipality takes no action, then the county percentage will apply to assessments used to compute municipal taxes.
Local percentages (county and municipal) remain in effect until changed by local action. County governments may, in the future, change their Homestead Credit percentage, but must do so by November 15th preceding the year of the proposed change. Municipalities may change the percentage before November 25th of the preceding year.
If you have questions or comments on the constant yield tax rate, please email gccomments@garrettcounty.org until June 5.
Who I Am
My name is Jay Ferguson, and I am a lifelong resident of the Deep Creek Lake area. I am also co-owner of the real estate side of Taylor Made. I have been in the real estate business for 21+ years now and I LOVE what I do! I have to say, my career really took off when I co-founded the real estate side of Taylor Made in 2014. Its been an amazing experience, building a real estate company from the ground up and achieving so much so quickly! In August 2016, we purchased Long & Foster Real Estate Deep Creek, where I had started my career in 2000. In 2018, we on-boarded virtually every agent from Coldwell Banker Deep Creek Realty as they closed up shop and the real estate family grew even more! We now have over 40 sales agents and have expanded to West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well. Taylor Made is the #1 vacation rental company at Deep Creek with over 475 vacation rental homes, and over one hundred thousand yearly visitors. Its amazing what we have accomplished using the principles of honesty, teamwork and customer service!
Personally, my wife Jessica and I enjoy traveling and especially spending time in the outdoors, hiking and exploring the many diverse areas that Garrett County is naturally blessed with. We have raised two wonderful children here, Kayleah (22) and Noah (13). In the summer, we love spending time on the water with friends & family and enjoying the lake life! We are both active in our church, our community & local school activities, and we fill our schedule with plenty of volunteer efforts. I currently serve on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. I am proud to say that I was named Deep Creek Time’s Favorite ‘Community Champion’ in 2019. I was also named Garrett County Realtor of the Year in 2018-19, as well.
I really enjoy promoting my hometown. I am very proud of the resort area that has developed over my lifetime and look forward to growing the area even more! Deep Creek Lake has been described as ‘The Lake Tahoe of the east', and I think that speaks volumes about the potential to own property here! Deep Creek Lake isn't really a town or city by itself; it's comprised of three towns: Oakland, Swanton & McHenry, Maryland. I am very passionate about my hometown and am impressed with how many people know about it as we travel around the country. Deep Creek Lake is an amazing place to visit and even better place to live! During the pandemic in 2020, our market exploded and more and more people left their primary residence in the city to live here permanently. With distance learning in schools and tele-commuting becoming the ‘norm’, many more people were drawn to the area to ‘live where they love to play’.
Why You Want Me Working for You: In addition to being an owner, I am consistently one of the top-producing agents in the entire area and the Associate Broker of record for Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales. I have 21+ years of experience and I am a problem solver. There aren’t many situations that I have not encountered and I have a strategy for almost every scenario that you may encounter. I
have extensively trained in all areas of real estate & emerging technologies, and also have trained as an appraiser, as well as served as a full-time Broker. I have a strong knowledge of the industry, as well as many trusted local contacts & affiliations that allow me to perform at a very high level and deliver results. I have a great deal of respect for my peers in this industry and have strong working relationships that I would love to put to work for you.
Call me to discuss your situation - I know I can be of great service to you & others you care about!
Honesty. Integrity. Results.
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