It wasn’t a big surprise when the Prince George’s County Council approved a measure to offer property tax credits for certain older residents in addition to the Homestead Credit they already receive.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t concerns about the legislation either.

Under the bill passed by the council by an 8-0 margin with two abstentions on Tuesday, county homeowners over age 65 who have lived in their homes for 25 years are now eligible for the new credit, provided that the appraised value of your home is no more than $500,000.

Its objective is to improve a city council tax credit It happened just two years ago.making more elderly residents eligible, although not everyone who applied was accepted due to limited funds.

“I had a 99-year-old woman who lived in my district, who served in our public school system for over 30 years, who cannot pay her property taxes,” said the bill’s lead sponsor, House Member District Council 8, Ed Burroughs. “She is at the end of her life and her family is concerned about whether or not she will be able to keep her home in this county.”

There was concern from the county executive’s office that the way the bill was written could cause confusion and uncertainty. In some cases, members of that office believed the legislation contradicted one another.

Earlier this year, the council also passed a resolution creating a working group aimed at resolving some of those concerns about who would be eligible for the tax credit and how it would be determined.

“We’ve been trying to work on this bill because, two years ago, it may not have met the goal that we were all looking for,” said John Erzen, the County Executive’s deputy chief of staff and newly elected. Senator Angela Alsobrooks. “We may come back right after this bill with another bill when we have more seniors coming in and saying, ‘I thought this was going to help me, and this one didn’t end up helping me.’”

The task force that was urging the council to wait is supposed to have its final report ready by the end of February. That’s why the county executive’s team was surprised by the recent push to pass this bill again before the end of the legislative year.

The Alsobrooks administration also warned that the cost of implementing this new tax credit would range between $59 million and $98 million over the next five years, as it is in addition to the Homestead Credit already given to residents. And because the current 10-year residency requirement would be expanded to 25 years, the administration warned that nearly 15,000 residents eligible to apply for the additional credit now would not be eligible in the future.

“Is the council ready to say to those seniors (the seniors under the 10-year program) ‘you were eligible, you may not have received a credit, but because now the credit is increasing and it’s being spent at 25 years, they ran out of credit? The program?’” said Sakinda Skinner, the county executive’s liaison to the council.

It was the financial impact to the county that caused council Vice President Sydney Harrison to speak out against the credit. With the county already facing a $158 million hole in next year’s budget, he said this could jeopardize the current triple A bond rating.

“I’m not trying to cause a cardiac arrest in the fiscal health of this county,” Harrison said. “We are playing Russian roulette with our AAA bond rating.”

And he wondered if taxes on others would have to be increased to be able to pay this new credit.

“We’re going to have to find money elsewhere to provide this and cut other agencies,” he said. “How that reflects on public safety, how that reflects on our 27 agencies to offset that money, that’s a real thing.”

“We haven’t had a discussion about our bond rating when we’ve given development tax breaks,” said District 6 Council member Wala Blegay. “If we don’t step up and try to give something to our elders, we’ll lose them, and “That will be part of the impact on the budget.”

Burroughs said he has seen the county council “waiving school surcharges… public safety surcharges for developers.”

“Isn’t it time we gave the same level of importance to the people who have helped build this county? “Our elders are the reason we are here,” he said.

In offering her vote in favor of the bill, Council Member Wanika Fisher said others who come before the Council expecting financial assistance and more funding for certain programs should pay close attention to how this debate played out.

“Passing this bill also means passing a statement about what we will be able to do for the county,” Fisher said. “This is the priority. Rental assistance will not be the priority. Social services or housing will not be the priority. All that is not the priority.”

The bill next goes to the county executive’s desk and, with all the questions about the legislation, it is not certain that it will be signed. However, Alsobrooks’ staff members also said it was too early to say whether or not he was considering a veto.

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