Mayor's Report for July/August 2003
As I write this, we are in our third week of the new administration and, as typical for the month of June, we have conducted four meetings already for the major effort of establishing the town budget for 2003-2004. With an imbalance nearing $300,000, the Council has taken action to increase certain fees that have not been updated for many years, and has taken action to set the tax rates for the coming year. Every effort is being taken to maintain our service levels with a minimal loss of personnel. The following is a list of recently made changes that affect property owners, residential rental properties, businesses, utilities and the railroad:
- Ordinance change 15-9: Increases fees for building permits from ½ to ¾ of the building permit fee charged by Prince George's County. Minimum fee shall be $25.
- Ordinance change 55-5: Increases the inspection fee for single-family rental property from $100 per year to $200 per year and increases the late fee from $5 per day to $10 per day for every day the applicant is delinquent.
- Ordinance change 55-8: Appointments for single-family rental property inspections that are not kept by the applicant will be subject to a penalty fee of $50. Each additional
appointment not kept shall have a penalty fee of $100. Applicants may cancel appointments without penalty if they provide 24-hour notice.
- Ordinance 60-1: Allows the Mayor and Council to determine business tangible property tax rates annually. No more than a 20% rate increase from the previous year shall be allowed annually.
- Ordinance 71-1: Allows the Mayor and Council to determine operating property tax rates annually. These are taxes levied on corporations owning operating property (PEPCO, WGL, Railroads, etc.).
Tax Rates for 2003-2004
The following tax rates have been adopted by the Council for fiscal year 2003-2004.
- Real Property: Changes from $ .42 per $100 assessed to $ .50 per $100 assessed.
- Special Tax: Changes from $ .224 per $100 assessed to $ .23 per $100 assessed.
- Tangible Property: Changes from $1.60 per $100 assessed to $1.83 per $100 assessed.
- Operating Property: Changes from $1.60 per $100 assessed to $1.83 per $100 assessed.
By the time you read this, hopefully, the town budget will have been adopted and balanced as required by law. We wish to thank those residents who attended our budget work sessions and contributed their opinions and comments. I also wish to thank our Councilmembers for their input and work on the most difficult budget in many, many years.
Our goal for the next year is to increase new commercial development and redevelopment and to apply for grants to obtain new funding for our town.
- Guy Tiberio, Mayor
E-MAIL ELECTED OFFICIALS
Mayor - Guy Tiberio: guyrivpark@aol.com
Ward 1 - Chris Davis: chris-davis@earthlink.net
Ward 2 - Matt Hart * : riverdalepark@his.com
Ward 3 - Ray Badders: advertisingray@aol.com
Ward 4 - Lawrence Taylor: lawrencetaylor@mris.com
Ward 5 - Gerard Kiernan: gerardkiernan@earthlink.net
Ward 6 - Kenneth Webb: Webbward6@hotmail.com
* Not confidential; uses general town e-mail address.
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