Garrett County Gazette, May 2023

Welcome to the current issue of the Garrett County Gazette. I’m Chris Nichols, your guide to helping you find out what’s going on, what’s coming up and interesting tidbits from the area. Let’s jump right in!

I try to keep this newsletter fairly light, but sometimes you gotta cover the heavy issues, too.

In the wake of the assessment of “Group 2” properties in the County which was announced at the beginning of the year, the assessed value of properties in this group went up by 50% on average. The County’s primary source of revenue is a tax based on a percentage of the assessed value of property in the County.

Our Commissioners set the percentage of the tax rate, but are required under MD state law to publicize certain changes to the tax rate under the very misleadingly titled “Constant Yield Tax Rate Provision”. The concept behind the Constant Yield provision is to provide voters with notification and input if local officials propose a tax rate which will generate more revenue than last year.

Our current tax rate is 1.056 for 2022 and the Commissioners are proposing to keep that rate the same. Since the assessed values have increased (especially for Group 2), applying the same rate to a larger base will generate more revenue, about $4.6M more than last year. Taking a look at the total revenue below (from the FY23 budget), the County runs on about $100M, so the increase would be about 5%.

The knee-jerk reaction to tax increases is usually to oppose them, but in this case, I would be favor of this increase IF the Commissioners pledge (and somehow lock away) this extra revenue for two specific purposes: stopping school closures and mitigating the lack of affordable housing.

If you read my article from last month’s newsletter on the pending funding crisis for the public school system, you’ll see that it is a dire situation. This extra revenue should be banked to pay for future costs that are known to be coming. Additionally, some of the additional revenue should go to initiatives to help working-class families afford basic housing in the County. Declining schools and declining population are already setting off a vicious cycle that will have far-lasting negative impacts that will exceed the increase in the property tax amount.

As always, I encourage you to do your own research and get the facts!

Two important things to remember:

1. Group 3 will face the same assessment process at the end of this year so be prepared if you’re in that area
2. You can limit the rate of increase in your assessment for owner-occupied properties under the Maryland Homestead Property Tax Credit. You should check out that program if you’re a resident to make sure you’re getting that protection.

The County’s Budget Page is here and it should be releasing the proposed FY24 Budget soon.

The waters of Deep Creek Lake have a number of uses including electricity generation, lake recreation, whitewater boating and trout habitat enhancement. The level of Deep Creek Lake is governed by a permit issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment which attempts to balance these uses. I’ve put together a presentation and narrated video going through the uses of waters of Deep Creek Lake, the “Rule Band” which dictates what the level of the lake should be throughout the year and some commentary on how these uses of the water relate to each other.

Important info whether you are a user of the surface waters or the lake, or the discharge to the Youghiogheny!

Summer is coming and a common question is “Where can I go swimming?” Deep Creek Lake of course comes to many people’s minds, but with so many streams, rivers and lakes and so much public land, there are lots of other places to go swimming, from sandy beaches to river plunges.

Check out the presentation here and video here and the custom Google Map of swimmin’ spots throughout the County!

A friend of mine recently gave me this map that he purchased at an auction. What a find! It’s a 1936 map of Deep Creek Lake made by Frank Corliss, who was in charge of the surveying for the original land acquisition of the lake.

Labeled with roads, the businesses along the “strip” on 219 and lot owners, along with the factoid info on the right, it looks a lot like a visitor’s map to me.

You can check out the full version of the map and some more info over at my blog.

My ULTIMATE Deep Creek Lake wall map is available on my website now and the fold-up version is at the printers and will be available soon!

May 17-20 —Grantsville National Road Festival @ Grantsville: wagon train, live music, food specials, town-wide yard sale and more

Jun 3 —Garrett County Celtic Festival @ Friendsville: celebration of the culture, food and music of the highlands

Jun 10 —Deep Creek Lake Lion Boat Auction @ 1249 Bumble Bee Rd Accident MD: Get on the water for cheap – over 20 boats of all kinds up for sale to the highest bidder!

Is now a good time to sell your Garrett County property? Average sales prices are still at historic highs, but may have hit a plateau. And properly priced properties are still selling extremely quickly. It’s a strong market for sellers.Even if you’re just curious about what your real estate may be worth, contact me to set up a no-obligation, zero-pressure market analysis of your property. Online tools may give you a quick snapshot, but will likely miss the details. You may be surprised at where the numbers end up!