Legislation aims to help encourage first responders to live in Howard County.
In December, County Executive Kittleman filed legislation (Council Bill 7 – 2018) that creates a $2,500 property tax credit for public safety officers who live and work in Howard County. Last year, the General Assembly enacted legislation which grants local jurisdictions the ability to create a tax credit for first responders up to $2,500 annually.
Those eligible for this property tax credit include the County’s police officers, career and volunteer firefighters, correctional officers, and deputy sheriffs. All county public safety officers must have completed the employment probationary period and be in active service in order to receive this tax credit.
To be eligible, volunteer firefighters must have continuously volunteered for at least ten years in the County. In the event that a public safety officer is dismissed from the job for cause, the officer must pay back the credit that they received that year.
Over the past year, Kittleman has worked on this legislation to help “encourage first responders to live in Howard County.” Out of all the current County’s first responders, 16 percent of career firefighters, 10 percent of correctional officers, 32 percent of police officers, and 36