On January 23, Greenbelt City Council discussed various state and county legislation initiatives that may impact Greenbelt. Mayor Emmett Jordan stated that council may choose to support, oppose or take no action on the legislation. Council also discussed the recent compensation study on employees’ salaries and will seek to bring Greenbelt’s city employees’ salaries more in line with other municipalities.
Maglev
Senate Bill 50/House Bill 106 prohibit Maryland (or any unit or instrumentality of Maryland) from using any appropriation for a magnetic levitation (maglev) transportation system located or to be located in Maryland.
Council supported this legislation unanimously.
Constant Yield
Senate Bill 114 modifies advertising requirements that local jurisdictions must follow regarding the constant yield tax rate by establishing a separate notification requirement for jurisdictions that maintain their real property tax rate from the prior year.
Councilmember Judith Davis pointed out that some language of the notice to taxpayers has already been made clearer. As one of its five legislative priorities outlined in the City of Greenbelt’s 2023 Legislative Program Summary, the city has requested the state legislature create an explanation of the constant yield tax rate that residents can understand. For an in-depth explanation of Constant Yield Tax Credit and the confusion around its language see the January 5 issue of the News Review.
Council supported this legislation unanimously.
Rental Licensure
Senate Bill 100/House Bill 36 add requirements in order to repossess residential rental property. A key one is that a landlord must submit evidence that they comply with local rental property licensure requirements to the clerk of the court and demonstrate that they are compliant with licensing before they can repossess their property or evict tenants. In specifying that all landlords must have a license, Councilmember Silke Pope pointed to cases where the cost of getting a license may harm some city residents.
Council supported the rental initiatives with six ayes and one nay from Pope.
School Zone Size
Senate Bill 11 decreases the radius around schools within which a school zone may be established and speed monitoring systems may be placed and used. The proposed decrease is from a half-mile to one-tenth of a mile.
Debate ensued primarily over whether the city’s speed cameras would be in compliance. Councilmember Colin Byrd drew attention to the question of whether the one-tenth mile radius is enough to protect children coming and going to school, independent of the speed camera issue. Council voted to oppose the bill by six to one. The solitary nay to opposing the bill was from Byrd.
Rent Stabilization
Rent Stabilization Act of 2023, County Council Bill 007 would prohibit landlords from increasing rent by more than a certain percentage in some units, provides additional restrictions on rent increases, provides for an expiration of the Act and generally relates to rent restrictions for residential leases and rental units.
The Act implements a 3 percent rent increase cap for six months countywide. At the end of six months, Prince George’s County Council is expected to have more well-defined legislation. It is not retroactive and has no appeal provision.
Pope pointed out that there is already a 5 percent real estate tax increase for property owners and argued this bill needs modifications. Councilmember Ric Gordon pointed to a letter from Prince George’s County Municipal Association (PGCMA) supporting the legislation and noted that council would be either signing onto that letter or opposing it.
Council voted to sign onto the PGCMA letter with six ayes and one abstention from Byrd (Byrd is employed by the county).
Compensation Study
Dwayne Martinez, city director of Human Resources, introduced recommendations from a recent compensation study and began by noting that, before this one, the last time the city had a compensation study was over eight years ago. He spoke about the three options open for consideration by Council:
Option One: Move employees to the minimum compensation for their classification range if their salary is currently below that amount; all others would retain their existing salary.
Option Two: Employees below the minimum compensation for their classification level would move to the minimum while all others would receive a 2 percent increase. If those seeing an adjustment to the minimum for their classification would receive less than a 2 percent raise they would receive 2 percent instead. Therefore, every employee would see at least a 2 percent increase in compensation.
Option Three: Employees below the minimum for their level would move to the minimum, then all employees would receive a half percent decompression adjustment multiplied by their years of service, capped at a maximum of 5 percent. For example, an employee with 10 years of service would receive a 5 percent adjustment.
Council approved staff recommendation of Option Two and a portion of Option Three with all ayes. The cost-of-living adjustment is not included in the compensation adjustment but will be discussed within the budget meetings.
Committee Reports
The Board of Elections Committee submitted a report, Proposed Election Code and Charter Amendments: Early Voting and Date of Election Day Report, that was accepted by council. The Public Safety Advisory Committee’s report, Review and Recommendations of Nine Pending Police Procedures, was accepted by council. The Arts Advisory Board’s report, Report #23-1- Space Study, was also accepted by council.
More information on the meeting can be found on the city website (greenbeltmd.gov) by clicking on the Municipal Access TV button on the homepage and then on the agenda packet for the meeting.