Property Tax Assessments - 5-Year Assessment Cycle

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb1518*

HOUSE BILL 1518
Q1 6lr3197

By: Delegates Buckel, Adams, Baker, Beauchamp, Ciliberti, Hornberger,
Hutchinson, Jacobs, McComas, Miller, T. Morgan, Nkongolo, Reilly,
Schmidt, Tomlinson, and Wivell
Introduced and read first time: February 13, 2026
Assigned to: Ways and Means

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Property Tax Assessments – 5–Year Assessment Cycle 2

FOR the purpose of altering the triennial assessment cycle for real property for property 3
tax purposes to a 5 –year cycle; and generally relating to the valuation and 4
assessment of real property for property tax purposes. 5

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 6
Article – Tax – Property 7
Section 1–402(9) and (11), 2 –203(a), 2–218.2(4), 7–204.1(a), 8–103(a), 8–104(b) and 8
(c)(1) and (2), 8–209(g)(1)(iii) and (5) and (i)(1)(iii), (2) , and (3)(iv), 8–401(c), 9
(d), and (f), 8–417(c), 9–105.1(b), and 14–1103(b) 10
Annotated Code of Maryland 11
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 12

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 13
Article – Tax – Property 14
Section 8–209(i)(1)(i) and 14–1103(a) 15
Annotated Code of Maryland 16
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 17

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 18
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 19

Article – Tax – Property 20

1–402. 21

Property owners in this State have the following rights: 22

2 HOUSE BILL 1518

(9) after an appeal hearing, the right to: 1

(i) not have an assessment incre ased during the current [3–year] 2
5–YEAR cycle because of information ascertained at an appeal hearing on residential 3
property; and 4

(ii) a reinspection of a property, upon request, to review updated 5
information revealed during an appeal hearing that could result in a decreased assessment; 6

(11) the right to file a petition for review within any year of the [3–year] 7
5–YEAR assessment cycle, as provided in § 8–415 of this article; 8

2–203. 9

(a) (1) The Department shall continually review all real property assessments 10
to provide a review of each assessment at least once in each [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle. 11

(2) If any assessment has not been reviewed during a [3–year] 5–YEAR 12
cycle, the Department may order a review of the assessment at any time. 13

2–218.2. 14

The Department shall publish on the Department’s website a plain language 15
description of the following: 16

(4) the circumstances under which the Department is required to revalue 17
real property in any year of a [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle; and 18

7–204.1. 19

(a) An organization that owns property in Baltimore City that is not subject to 20
property tax as of June 1, 2014, under § 7 –202 or § 7–204 of this subtitle shall submit an 21
application to the Department in accordance with this section: 22

(1) beginning with April 1, 2016, on or before the earlier of April 1 of the 23
year in which the property is assessed in accordance with the Department’s [3–year] 24
5–YEAR cycle or April 1, 2017; and 25

(2) on or before April 1 of each subsequent year in which the property is 26
assessed in accordance with the Department’s [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle. 27

8–103. 28

(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 29

HOUSE BILL 1518 3

(2) “5–YEAR CYCLE” MEANS A CONTINUOUS S ERIES OF 5 CALENDAR 1
YEAR PERIODS BEGINNI NG FOR EACH PERIOD W ITH THE 1ST CALENDAR YEAR 2
AFTER THE CALENDAR YEAR IN WHICH A REVIEW OF REAL PROPERTY IS CONDUCTED 3
UNDER § 8–104(B) OF THIS SUBTITLE. 4

[(2)] (3) “New statewide value” means the phased in value of all real 5
property subject to property tax on January 1 preceding any taxable year, excluding the 6
phased in value of real property assessed for the 1st time during the calendar year 7
beginning on that January 1. 8

[(3)] (4) “Phased in value” means for the 1st, 2nd, [or] 3rd, 4TH, OR 5TH 9
year of a [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle: 10

(i) the prior value of real property increased by [one–third, 11
two–thirds,] ONE–FIFTH, TWO–FIFTHS, THREE–FIFTHS, FOUR–FIFTHS, or the full 12
amount by which the value increased over the prior value based on a physical inspection of 13
the real property; or 14

(ii) if the value of real property has not increased, the value 15
determined in the most recent valuation. 16

[(4) “3–year cycle” means a continuous series of 3 calendar year periods 17
beginning for each period with the 1st calendar year after the calendar year in which a 18
physical inspection of real property is made under § 8–104(b) of this subtitle.] 19

8–104. 20

(b) (1) Notwithstanding a revaluation under subsection (c) of this section, the 21
Department or supervisor shall value all real property once in every [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle 22
based on a review of the real property under § 2–203 of this article. 23

(2) The date of finality for real property that is valued un der this 24
subsection is the January 1 immediately before the 1st taxable year to which the 25
assessment based on the new value is applicable. 26

(c) (1) In any year of a [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle, real property shall be revalued 27
if any of the factors listed below causes a change in the value of the real property: 28

(i) the zoning classification is changed at the initiative of the owner 29
or anyone having an interest in the property; 30

(ii) a change in use or character occurs; 31

(iii) substantially completed imp rovements are made which add at 32
least $100,000 in value to the property; 33

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(iv) an error in calculation or measurement of the real property 1
caused the value to be erroneous; 2

(v) a residential use assessment is terminated pursuant to § 8 –226 3
of this title; or 4

(vi) a subdivision occurs. For purposes of this subsection, 5
“subdivision” means the division of real property into 2 or more parcels by subdivision plat, 6
condominium plat, time–share, metes and bounds, or other means. 7

(2) When real property is revalued under this subsection, the Department 8
or supervisor shall: 9

(i) determine the value that would have resulted if the revaluation 10
had occurred for the 1st year of the [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle; 11

(ii) determine the value that would have result ed if the revaluation 12
had occurred for the 1st year of the preceding [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle; and 13

(iii) adjust the phased–in value for each of the years remaining in the 14
[3–year] 5–YEAR cycle to reflect the change that results from the revaluation. 15

8–209. 16

(g) (1) In this subsection the following words have the meanings indicated: 17

(iii) “average gross income” means the average of the [2] 4 highest 18
years of gross income during a [3–year] 5–YEAR period; 19

(5) If land that appears to be actively used does not yield an average gross 20
income of $2,500, the Director shall waive the gross income requirement on finding that: 21

(i) the land is leased and the nature of the farm or agricultural use 22
of the land when related to the amount of the land in far m or agricultural use reasonably 23
would be expected to yield an average gross income of at least $2,500; 24

(ii) the nature of the farm or agricultural use of the land and the 25
amount of the land in farm or agricultural use reasonably would be expected to y ield an 26
average gross income of at least $2,500 from the agricultural products, if sold, that are 27
derived from the use of the land; 28

(iii) a drought or other natural cause has adversely affected the 29
income–producing capability of the land during a [3–year] 5–YEAR period; or 30

(iv) for a newly established farm or agricultural use, the nature of 31
the use and the amount of the land in farm or agricultural use reasonably would be expected 32
HOUSE BILL 1518 5

to yield an average gross income of at least $2,500 if the use had existed for a [3–year] 1
5–YEAR period. 2

(i) (1) (i) In this subsection the following words have the meanings 3
indicated. 4

(iii) [“3–year] “5–YEAR cycle” has the meaning stated in § 8 –103 of 5
this title. 6

(2) The Director may grant a waiver from the requirements of subsection 7
(e) or (g) of this section if: 8

(i) the property owner is at least 70 years of age; 9

(ii) the property owner applies to the Department for a waiver of the 10
requirements of either subsection (e) or (g) of this section; 11

(iii) the land has not changed ownership during the two previous 12
[3–year] 5–YEAR cycles; and 13

(iv) the land has been assessed for at least the two previous [3–year] 14
5–YEAR cycles on the basis of farm or agricultural use under the law or regulations of the 15
Department that were in effect as of the date of the application. 16

(3) The Director may grant a waiver from the requirements of subsection 17
(e) or (g) of this section if: 18

(iv) the land has been assessed for at least the two previous [3–year] 19
5–YEAR cycles on the basis of farm or agricultural use under the law or regulations of the 20
Department that were in effect as of the date of the application. 21

8–401. 22

(c) The notice for subsection (b)(1) of this section shall include: 23

(1) the amount of the current value; 24

(2) the amount of the proposed value including a statement that the total 25
amount of the proposed value is the value for purposes of appeal; 26

(3) the amount of the proposed value that will be the basis for the 27
assessment in each year of the [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle; 28

(4) a statement: 29

(i) indicating the right to appeal; and 30
6 HOUSE BILL 1518

(ii) briefly describing the appeal process and the property owner’s 1
bill of rights; and 2

(5) a statement that valuation records are available as provided by § 3
14–201 of this article. 4

(d) In the instance of notices required in subsection (b)(2), (3), (4), and (5) of this 5
section, the notice shall include: 6

(1) the amount of the current value; 7

(2) the amount of the proposed or final value; 8

(3) the amount of the proposed value that is the basis for the assessment 9
in the applicable years of the [3–year] 5–YEAR cycle; 10

(4) a statement: 11

(i) indicating the right of appeal; and 12

(ii) briefly describing the appeal process and the property owner’s 13
bill of rights; and 14

(5) a statement that valuation records are available as provided by § 15
14–201 of this article. 16

(f) A failure to send a notice of any change in value or classification within 30 17
days after the date provided in subsection (e) of this section creates an irrebuttable 18
presumption that in the instances specified in subsection (b)(1) through (4) of this section 19
the prior value has not changed unless: 20

(1) the property has been transferred for consideration to new ownership 21
during the previous calendar year; 22

(2) the zoning classification of the property changed during the current 23
[triennial] QUINQUENNIAL cycle or the previous calenda r year, whichever is earlier, 24
resulting in an increased value of the property; 25

(3) a substantial change occurred in the use or character of the property 26
during the current [triennial] QUINQUENNIAL cycle or the previous calendar year, 27
whichever is earlier; 28

(4) extensive improvements have been made on the property during the 29
current [triennial] QUINQUENNIAL cycle or the previous calendar year, whichever is 30
earlier, as provided in § 8–104(c)(1)(iii) of this title; 31

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(5) due to an error in calculating or measuring improvements on the 1
property the assessment for the previous taxable year was clearly erroneous; or 2

(6) the assessment has been decreased. 3

8–417. 4

(c) (1) When escaped property is assessed it is placed on the assessment roll 5
and tax roll and is subject to property tax for: 6

(i) the current taxable year; and 7

(ii) not more than [3] 5 previous taxable years. 8

(2) The county tax imposition for each county or municipal corporation tax 9
imposition for each municipal corporation shall be deemed to have covered all property that 10
was not assessed but which should have been assessed for the year that any county or 11
municipal corporation tax was imposed. 12

9–105.1. 13

(b) On or before January 1 each year, Baltimore City shall mail a notice of the tax 14
credit under § 9–105 of this subtitle to each homeowner in Baltimore City: 15

(1) who has not applied for the tax credit under § 9 –105 of this subtitle; 16
and 17

(2) whose dwelling has an assessed value, when fully phased in, in the 18
current [3–year] 5–YEAR assessment cycle that is more than 10% greater than the 19
dwelling’s assessed value, when fully phased in, in the immediately preceding [3–year] 20
5–YEAR assessment cycle. 21

14–1103. 22

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, property 23
tax shall be assessed for the taxable period specified in Title 8 of this article. 24

(b) Escaped property shall be assessed under § 8 –417 of this article at the time 25
the property is located and for not more than the [3] 5 preceding taxable years. 26

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 27
October 1, 2026. 28