The taxable basis for the Town of Bel Air for the purpose of levying of Town Taxes shall be the same as the basis for state and county taxes on all real property and all tangible personal property within the corporate limits of the Town. On all Town taxes the Board of Commissioners may allow such discounts for payments made prior to October 1 in each year, and may impose and collect after October 1 in each year such penalties for failure to make payment by or after that day as prior to the date of finality may have been fixed by their resolution. The Director of Finance shall extend the initial discount for a period of thirty (30) days after the preparation of the tax bills by the Finance Department when the preparation of tax bills for taxes levied or assessments made by the assessment officials of Harford County has been delayed because of the unavailability of assessment information from said assessment officials and when the delay in preparation of such tax bills has not been occasioned by the misfeasance or malfeasance of the Board of Commissioners, officers, or employees of the Town of Bel Air. The Director of Finance shall prepare tax bills on such delayed assessment information within fifteen (15) days after such information is available. Taxes levied upon assessments made by the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation shall be due and payable as provided by laws of Maryland and shall bear interest as therein provided and shall not be subject to the discounts and penalties hereinbefore provided in this section in the case of taxes levied on assessments made by the assessment officials of Harford County. All property within the corporate limits of said Town shall be exempt from taxation by Harford County for public road and bridge purposes.
The Director of Finance shall, as soon as the annual levy is made, give notice thereof by advertisement in one or more newspapers published in the Town of Bel Air, stating the discounts allowed and the date from which taxes bear interest and warning taxpayers of their liability to be published as delinquents and to have their property sold if taxes are not paid as required by law. The Director of Finance shall also immediately make out the bill of each taxpayer upon which a similar notice shall be printed, and shall forward said bill to the taxpayer if the said taxpayer's address is known.
Real Property Taxes/Annual. The taxes provided for in Section 801 of this Charter shall be due and payable on the first day of July in the year for which they are levied and shall be overdue and in arrears on the first day of the following October. They shall bear interest while in arrears at the rate prescribed by State law.
Real Property Taxes/Semiannual. The taxes provided for in Section 801 of this Charter shall be due and payable on the first day of July and the first day of January in the year for which they are levied and shall be overdue and in arrears at the rate prescribed by State law. The second semiannual payment will reflect a service charge, which the law allows the Town to impose, for administering the semiannual payment plan. The service charge is designed to cover any interest lost by the Town as well as administrative costs. The service charge percentage shall be adopted by the Town as part of adoption of the property tax rate.
Personal Property Taxes. The personal property taxes provided for in Section 801 of this Charter shall be due and payable thirty (30) days after the date they are billed. All taxes not paid within ninety (90) days of the date they are billed shall be overdue and in arrears. They shall bear interest while in arrears at the rate prescribed by State law until paid.
By the 15th day of each month, the Director of Finance shall prepare a report of revenues and expenditures for the preceding month. This report should include information which will indicate for each budget line item: the budgeted amount, the year to date actual receipts and expenditures and the difference between the two.
Taxes shall become delinquent on the first day of April in the next preceding calendar year nine (9) months after they have been levied. A list of all property on which the Town taxes have not been paid and which are in arrears as provided by Section 801 of the Charter shall be turned over by the Director of Finance to the official of the County responsible for the sale of tax delinquent property as provided in State law on the first Monday in April of each year. All property listed thereon shall, if necessary, be sold for taxes by the County official or by the Director of Finance of Bel Air in the manner prescribed by State law. If the county tax collector has not instituted procedures as prescribed by the laws of Maryland within thirty days (30) of receipt of said list or properties the Director of Finance of Bel Air shall institute said procedures immediately so that tax sale might be had under the provisions of said laws of Maryland on the third (3rd) Monday in June at such time and place as may be fixed by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.[1]
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Editor's Note: Former Section 806, Tax Credit for Firemen Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. Members, as amended by Charter Res. No. 106-01, effective 11-6-2001, which immediately followed this section, was repealed by Charter Res. No. 134-21, effective 4-20-2021.