Town of Bel Air, MD Article I Financial Matters

§ 50-1 Fiscal year. [1]

The fiscal year of the Town of Bel Air shall begin on the first day of July of a calendar year and end on the last day of June of the next calendar year.

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III).

§ 50-2 Date for submission of budget.

The Town Administrator shall prepare and submit to the Board of Town Commissioners a proposed budget in accordance with the provisions of Article VII, Section 702(a) of the Charter of the Town of Bel Air.

§ 50-3 Assessments for services and improvements and abatement of nuisances.

[Amended 3-3-2008 by Ord. No. 705-08]

Whenever the Town shall provide any special service, benefit or improvement to or for any real property within the Town, shall abate any nuisances existing on real property at the Town's expense or shall remove prohibited objects from such real property or from any street, road, alley or sidewalk on which such property abuts at the Town's expense, then the value of such service, benefit, or improvement or the cost of such abatement or removal may be charged to the owner of such real property, or both the owner and occupant if such property is not owner-occupied, and shall be a lien upon such real property until paid, to be collected in the same manner as municipal taxes are collected. Liens hereby established shall be subject only to liens for state, county, and municipal real estate taxes.

§ 50-4 Tax credit for historic restoration and preservation.

A. Subject to the provisions of this section, there shall be allowed a tax credit on Town real property taxes based upon the amount expended by a private owner-taxpayer for restoration and preservation of any structure having historic or architectural value which is located within any historic district and/or site designated by the Historic Preservation Commission.[1] The tax credit shall be limited to those expenses having to do with exterior features of a structure only, which include appurtenances and environmental settings, and not to expenses relating to the interior of a structure which are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Historic Preservation Commission. The tax credit shall be in an amount equal to 10% of the owner's expense for such restoration and preservation, as indicated by properly documented receipts.

[1] Editor's Note: See Ch. 246, Historic Preservation.

B. There shall be allowed a tax credit on Town real property taxes based upon the amount expended by an owner-taxpayer for new construction adjacent to and architecturally compatible with any structure having historic or architectural value which is located within any historic district and/or site designated by the Historic Preservation Commission. The tax credit shall be in an amount equal to 5% of the owner's expense of the cost of construction of an architecturally compatible new structure, as indicated by properly documented receipts.

C. The tax credits referred to herein shall be allowed for the Town tax year immediately subsequent to the year in which the restoration or preservation work is completed, and any unused portion of this tax credit may be carried forward to subsequent tax years, not to exceed five tax years.

D. Application for the tax credit referred to in this section shall be submitted with the certificate of approval application and shall be made at the time that the application is made for the building permit. At the time the Historic Preservation Commission takes action on the application for the certificate of approval for the work to be done it shall also make a determination whether the proposed work is eligible for the tax credit provided for in this section and shall also determine whether the structure has historic or architectural value within the meaning of § 9-204 of the Tax-Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended. It is the intent of this section that the Historic Preservation Commission be liberal in such determination. The tax credit application shall not be finally approved until final inspection and approval of the work by the Historic Preservation Commission or its designated staff and until the receipts required by this section have been filed with the Historic Preservation Commission, accompanied by the oath or affirmation of the owner-taxpayer, on such forms prescribed by the Commission, that the receipts are those for the actual expenditures in connection with the restoration and preservation of the structure.

E. Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, no tax credit shall be allowed for any restoration or preservation work which has not been reviewed and approved in advance by the Historic Preservation Commission.

F. The Historic Preservation Commission shall deny the credit if any aspect of the restoration and preservation work or new construction is not done in accordance with the Town of Bel Air Historic Preservation Commission Design Guidelines for Rehabilitation, Maintenance and New Construction.

G. The approved application in the amount determined by the Historic Preservation Commission shall be forwarded to the Town Finance Department to be acted upon.

§ 50-5 Salaries of Commissioners.

The salaries of the Commissioners and Chair of the Board of Town Commissioners shall be $4,800 and $6,000 per year, respectively.

§ 50-6 Fees for special events on Town property.

The Board of Town Commissioners shall exercise its authority to designate, by resolution, fees for special events held on Town property. Exemptions to the fees shall also be designated by resolution.