Facing a budget shortfall of $81 million in fiscal year 2020, Baltimore County’s Commission on Fiscal Sustainability released an interim report today with a slate of recommendations for balancing the books, including a possible tax increase–a step county executive Johnny Olszewski has said he would like to avoid.

The commission, chaired by Don Mohler, who served as Baltimore County executive following the 2018 death of Kevin Kamenetz, noted the county has not adjusted its primary sources of revenue, the property tax rate ($1.10 per $100 of assessed real property value) and income tax rate (2.83 percent), in nearly three decades.

This has the added effect of hurting the county’s ability to borrow money since general fund revenues and debt service are factors in how credit agencies assign a credit rating for the county.

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