PROPERTY TAX RATES WON’T INCREASE, BUT ASSESSMENTS HAVE: State property tax rates will not increase in the coming year, though homeowners will still likely end up shelling out more in taxes because of increased assessments. The Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to approve a recommendation to hold the state rate on commercial and residential properties at 11.2 cents per $100 in assessed value. The tax rate on utilities will remain at 28 cents per $100 of assessed value. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
CLEAN SLATE ACT FAILED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE HOUSE: The Maryland Clean Slate Act was approved by the state Senate for the first time since its introduction this year, but some last-minute changes left the bill sitting in the House of Delegates when the legislature adjourned last week. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
MARYLAND SAW HIGH OF 77 COLD-WEATHER RELATED DEATHS: A “dangerous” winter season with prolonged drops in temperatures led to a record-breaking number of both cold-related fatalities and emergency room visits this year, according the Maryland Department of Health. The department said 77 Marylanders died from cold-related illnesses this year, two more than the previous record of 75, set just last year. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND RANKED SECOND MOST EXPENSIVE STATE TO RAISE A CHILD: Maryland is now the second most expensive state in the country to raise a child, according to an analysis published by LendingTree. Families here spend an estimated average of $36,419 annually in the first five years alone, ranking behind only Hawaii. The figure marks a 15% increase from last year. For some families, the financial strain is driving deeper concerns about long-term affordability and whether they can afford to stay in Maryland at all. Patrick Hauf/The Baltimore Sun.
B’MORE SPENDS $13M OF $600M IN OPIOID FUNDS, SETS PLAN FOR MORE WORK: Baltimore has officially spent about $13 million from its Opioid Restitution Fund now that the structure and process for the money is up and running, but much more is on the way. The city released its first annual report on the fund this week, outlining what the Office of Overdose Response did in the last year and how it plans to steward the nearly $600 million it won from opioid companies in lawsuits. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
ACLU SUES 3 MD POLICE DEPTS CLAIMING FAULTY TECH LED TO FAULTY ARREST: The American Civil Liberties Union has filed complaints against police departments in Montgomery, Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties, claiming a false identification resulting from a facial recognition technology search led an innocent woman to be jailed for six months. The ACLU said the woman is the 14th person it knows of who was wrongfully arrested because of faulty facial recognition technology. Ben Conarck/The Baltimore Banner.
PART 2: THE LOOMING PRIMARIES: There will be significant turnover in Annapolis come 2027, with five state senators and 19 House members either retiring or running for other offices, and others could be ousted in the primaries or general election. You don’t have to look too far down the ballot to find interesting battles in the June 23 primary. Many seem to be taking place in Prince George’s County, which is hardly surprising, given the level of political churn there, but just about every jurisdiction in the state has a noteworthy political race somewhere. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
COLUMBIA HOA CAN’T GET ITS RESIDENTS TO VOTE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS: Developer James Rouse founded Columbia in 1967 with a vision of inclusivity and the goal of getting residents to “take possession of their cities and make them work for the people who live there.” Nearly 60 years later, the unincorporated community of more than 100,000 is Maryland’s second largest city behind Baltimore. Yet participation in the local elections — for 10 village boards and the overarching Columbia Association board, essentially an umbrella homeowners association — historically has been abysmal. Lillian Reed and Jess Nocera/The Baltimore Banner.
BALTIMORE COUNTY SCHOOLS CLOSER TO ADOPTING ICE PROCEDURES: Baltimore County school leaders are moving closer to adopting a set of explicit immigration enforcement procedures. At issue is a policy whose first draft was unanimously approved this week by the Baltimore County Board of Education. It would sharply limit when federal immigration authorities can access students on school grounds — and define how staff must respond if they try. Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
B’MORE IG APOLOGIZES FOR SHARING AI-GENERATED POST OF MAYOR: Baltimore’s inspector general apologized for posting an AI-generated image of Mayor Brandon Scott that prompted a complaint to the city’s ethics board earlier this week. In a two-paragraph statement issued late Wednesday, Isabel Mercedes Cumming said she was sorry for sharing an image that depicted the mayor chomping on a cigar, clutching a glass of brown liquor and holding a fistful of luxury shopping bags in front of a suitcase overflowing with cash. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Banner.
UM DOCs TRACKING HIGH COSTS OF MEASLES OUTBREAKS: Doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are tracking a nationwide rise in measles cases and how it will impact overall health and the economy. As measles cases rise globally, Dr. Meagan Fitzpatrick and her colleagues started researching what could happen if this trend continues. “We expect that we can see $1.5 billion annually in costs related to measles outbreaks, if this trend continues, if we see a 1% decline in measles coverage in children over the next 5 years,” Fitzpatrick said. Taylor Epps/WMAR-TV News.
SWALWELL PLACED ON LEAVE FROM UM LAW SCHOOL BOARD OF VISITORS: The fallout from the sexual misconduct allegations that forced Rep. Eric Swalwell out of Congress and the California gubernatorial race has followed him to Baltimore and the school where he earned a law degree. Swalwell, a 45-year-old Democrat, has been placed on leave from the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. He has been a member of the board since 2023. Staff/Baltimore Fishbowl.
