Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Delivers State Of The City Address
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore's mayor outlines some ambitious goals in her annual State of the City address, including the largest drop in property taxes for city homeowners in decades.
Derek Valcourt has more on the mayor's remarks.
Lower property taxes and increase school construction funding, all in an effort to bring 10,000 more families into the city in the next 10 years.
"We need to get Baltimore growing again," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
Rawlings-Blake says it's time to cut property taxes by 20 cents for every hundred dollars of home value. The 18-year plan means the average homeowner with a house valued at $200,000 would see a $40 reduction by next year and $400 by the year 2020.
"Under this bill, vacant homes do not qualify for a tax cut, vacant lots don't qualify and speculators and owners of blighted properties won't get a penny of tax relief at the expense of everyone else," she said.
The mayor also plans to tackle is the condition of many school buildings.
"I am truly embarrassed by the physical condition of some of our schools---too many without air conditioning to keep kids in the classroom on hot spring days, too few computer labs, too many with water fountains you can't drink from," Rawlings-Blake said.
She will submit a plan called the Better Schools Initiative calling for a 140 percent increase in school construction funding, paid for in part with a proposed increase in the beverage container tax.
The mayor also made announcements about some changes that will hep law enforcement. Residents will soon see more officers on bikes and foot patrols. She says the city will add 30 new crime cameras in troubled areas of Northeast Baltimore. She credits the police department with reductions in the homicide rate and juvenile crime.
"We've come too far and made so much progress. Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas," she said.
The mayor also announced the proposed extension of the Charm City Circulator's purple line all the way up to 33rd Street in an effort to connect the Johns Hopkins campus with Penn Station.
