City Council Candidates Discuss Taxes

Patch asked the candidates for the May 3 election to share their opinions on more than a dozen topics relating to the city.

In this installment, City Council candidates—incumbents John Correri and Randy Craig, and challengers James Lauer, Diane Lawder, Lori Maslin and Barbara Wagner—address taxes in Havre de Grace:

John Correri

Correri calls himself “fiscally conservative.”

“I’ve been on both sides of this fence, where we’ve cut, I’ve been on the side where we have to raise taxes,” Correri said.

But as to the concern for citizens who take issue with paying city and county, Correri said he’s never fretted about paying extra.

“I have always, always, loved the fact that I live within the city of Havre de Grace. Harford County is also considered my home. But I’ve never looked at it from the sense that I have to pay a little more here in the City of Havre de Grace, because of the location,” he said. “It’s just, it’s always been something special about living here and having the services. I’m not calling Bel Air for this or somewhere else for that. I can get what I need here for the most part.”

Randy Craig

Craig is proud of the current City Council’s dedication to lowering taxes.

“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a municipality in the state of Maryland that’s lowered taxes, this will be my fourth year on council,” he said. “When I started, the tax rate was 68 cents. This year, the budget is proposed at 59 cents.”

Craig said the city has also increased the value of the Homestead Tax Credit.

“We’ve done a great job to lower the tax rate, and I’d like to see that continue,” he said. “That’s a prime motivator for residential development, it’s a fixed cost that residents have. We need to take a little as we need to from the taxpayer. I’m proud of the job we’ve done.”

Craig said the city’s goal when he was first elected was to lower taxes every year. They’ve done so, cutting three cents, one cent, two cents and one cent each year he’s been in office.

“You have to take a balanced approach,” he said. “That is a primary focus for me, to make sure from the revenue side, the city is balanced, and that we’re good stewards of every dollar we receive.”

James Lauer

Lauer did not respond to repeated interview requests from Patch.

Diane Lawder

Lawder said taxes she pays to live in Havre de Grace are worth it.

“I think what am I paying for by living in the city, to me, its worth it,” she said. “Taxes, consistently over the last few years, the city has cut the tax rate. It’s not gigantic, but they’re cutting the tax rate.”

The same can’t be said, she pointed out, for other places.

“If you look to other places, they’re increasing the tax rate. We’ve been steadily giving the citizens a cut,” Lawder said.

Otherwise, Lawder said taxes are just part of life.

“Anywhere you go, you have to pay them. It is what it is. They’re never going to go away,” she said. “And the economy, the situation we’re in now as a whole, it’s a disaster. Taxes are not going to go away.”

Lori Maslin

Maslin doesn't buy into the common theory that Havre de Grace is an unusually expensive place to live.

“I’m not convinced of that. I’m not sure where that comes from,” she said. “I come from a suburb of Philadelphia, that’s where I was born and raised. The tax base here, it’s way low. It’s way different. So, before we go saying, if you live in the county, you pay less taxes because you don’t pay the city as well. You also don’t get some of the city services. You don’t get city police. The sheriff response, the state police may respond.”

She said the perks far outweigh the cost.

“Being in the city of Havre de Grace, you get certain benefits you may not get out in the county,” Maslin said. “The fact that you pay a little bit more taxes, I don’t think that’s unfair or unexpected.”

As she points out, when it comes to taxes, some things are simply out of the city’s control.

“Interestingly enough, when I got our real estate tax bill last year, I expected it to go down,” she said. “Our assessment had gone down, our city tax rate had gone down, I believe the county tax rate had stayed the same, but interestingly enough, my taxes went up, and it had nothing to do with city or county, but it had to do with how the state applied the homestead tax. Only certain things we have control over.”

Maslin supports the Mayor’s proposal of a one-cent tax cut on the budget.

“I’m all for that,” she said. “We’re already reducing taxes in tough economic times. There have been people that have been around forever that have never had a tough economic year, and they’re struggling in their businesses. That’s the reality we live in now.

“I’m not sure that a tax issue isn’t, I don’t want to say made up, but maybe it’s overblown.”

Barbara Wagner

Wagner puts it plain and simple when it comes to taxes.

“Our current taxes are too high, and we need to reduce our current tax rates to more reasonable levels,” she said.

She points out the city’s residential tax rate is 20 percent higher than in Bel Air, and 28.8 percent higher for those citizens who reside along the Susquehanna River.

“This not only makes it difficult for the current residents and landlords to continue to maintain their homes, but also hurts the bigger picture as well,” she said. “Potential home and business investors may choose to take their dollars elsewhere. We need them here.”

The Mayor’s proposal of a one-cent tax reduction, met with an increase in water and sewer fees is a wash in Wagner’s eyes.

“The taxpayer receives no relief,” she said. “We need to significantly decrease our tax rate, and at the same time reduce the cost of our government by doing more with less, just like we all have needed to do in our own households and businesses.”

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Other issues the candidates for City Council have addressed:

—April 20

—April 21

—April 22

—April 23