Mayor James Ireton, Jr. announced today, on behalf of City taxpayers, that new Wicomico County leaders must address, in FY16, the fiscal inequalities which have rested on the shoulders of City taxpayers for far too long. Mayor Ireton will advance County Executive Bob Culver and County Council President John Cannon requests regarding the following fiscal issues:
1.) Tax differential for Salisbury, Delmar and Fruitland. An April, 2014 Municipal and Financial Services Group (MFSG) study estimates that Wicomico County owes the three municipalities the following for FY 2015:
a.) City of Salisbury - $1,051,909
b.) Town of Fruitland - $98,394
c.) Town of Delmar - $55,015
The study assumes a base rate of $.955/per $100 of assessable real property without differential countywide, and calculates the following tax rates with tax differential for FY2015:
2.) Fire Service Agreement 2015. Data from the County G.I.S. and 911 Computer Aided Dispatch System indicates:
a.) The City responds to 62.95% of the total fire calls in the County
b.) The City responds to 66.71% of all EMS calls in the County
c.) The City serves 56.58% of the County population
d.) The City serves 58.38% of the County’s assessed valuation
e.) The City received only 23.87% of the County’s total funding for fire and EMS in FY14.
“City taxpayers are being unfairly forced to pay for the majority of the costs for county fire service. The county must adopt a Fire Service Agreement which pays for provided services. We as a city don’t give away septic service, we don’t give away water service, and we’re done giving away fire service. The county must pay for the services it uses,” said Mayor Ireton.
These inequities amount to $2.22 Million dollars of Salisbury fire service provided to County residents that they do not pay for. County residents get three times more fire service than they are paying for. Mayor Ireton and all 5 City Council members have formally asked the county to adopt an assessable base option for fire and EMS in Wicomico County. The assessable base model is used to provide for the costs for protecting/responding to calls for service demanded by, and directly related to, the amount of real properties and residents in a given fire district.
Mayor Ireton added, “City residents are bearing the unfair tax burden of providing County residents fire service for free. We want City taxpayers to have their County taxes decreased to balance the subsidy the City is giving the County.
“As Mayor, I am delighted that Delegate-Elect Carl Anderton (R-38) has said that the first bill he will introduce in the legislature is one that will address the tax differential inequity. His bill, to amend sections 6-305 and 6-306 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, will move Wicomico County from the “May” list of counties that provide tax offsets to municipalities in Maryland, to the “Shall” list of applicable counties. This legislation would help solve the over-taxation of municipal residents in Wicomico County, and I will be watching its progress closely.”