After a hearing last June resulted in a surprise denial from the county commissioners, the board officers for the property owners of a large Calvert subdivision are ready for a second attempt at extending the community’s status as a special taxing district.
The Calvert County commissioners have a public hearing scheduled for March 12 at 7 p.m. At the hearing, testimony will be received on the Property Owners Association of Chesapeake Ranch Estates’ board of directors’ petition to establish a special taxing district in fiscal 2025 for the Lusby community.
The March 12 hearing will be held at the Southern Community Center in Lusby.
The proposed annual levy for each lot in the subdivision would remain at $275, the same amount approved in 2019 that expired last June after the agreement was not renewed. That amount is expected to yield $1.25 million annually, and the special taxing district would be in effect for five years.
The funds paid by lot owners would pay for road maintenance, engineering, road improvements, stormwater management components.
In its legal notice announcing the hearing, the county commissioners stated, “All funds generated by the special taxing district may be spent only in accordance with the express provisions of the ordinance.”
Since it is a private community, Chesapeake Ranch Estates must maintain the roads within the subdivision. In order for the county to provide maintenance the roads would need to be brought up to county standards, which is considered an unlikely situation.
Furthermore, Chesapeake Ranch Estates’ status as a special taxing district makes it eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding in the event of a disaster, such as a hurricane.
The commissioners’ denial of the board of director’s request was the result of predominant opposition to the extension of the special taxing district voiced by residents at the hearing last summer. Very few property owners association board members were on hand to give their perspective on the proposal.
“Seeing how this was a standard renewal, only one board member attended that meeting,” Ed Holland, board of directors vice president, told Southern Maryland News Monday. “That member was outnumbered by vocal homeowners opposed to the renewal of the STD.”
Travis Scott, board of directors president, was not available for comment this week.
During last June’s meeting, Michael Matters, longtime Chesapeake Ranch Estates resident, told the commissioners that in 1995 when the first special taxing district was proposed and approved, the property owners were told the payment would be temporary and the roads would be brought up to county standards.
“You need to take over the roads,” Matters told the commissioners. “That was the deal.”
During that same hearing, Commissioner President Earl F. “Buddy” Hance (R) told residents, “a million dollars a year is not going to bring 60 miles of road up to county standards anytime soon.”
To view the draft ordinance go to www.calvertcountymd.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=16350&month=3&year=2024&day=12&calType=0.
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