 Governor Hogan participated in the Military Bowl Parade in Annapolis. Each year, the Military Bowl generates over $100,000 for the United Service Organizations and also benefits Patriot Point, the Military Bowl Foundation’s recreational retreat on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that serves ill and injured service members. Photo Credit: Executive Office of the Governor
Mark Your Calendar
Don't get stuck in the office all winter. Most business development events and training programs take place outside the office. We maintain a robust calendar of events on our website. It's updated regularly, so be sure to check back often. Here are just a few upcoming events:
01/07/2020 - Starting a Small Business
01/08/2020 - WOSB Certification Workshop for Government Contracting
01/09/2020 - Why Small Businesses Need Human Resources (HR)
01/16/2020 - 10,000 Small Businesses Program OPEN HOUSE
01/28/2020 - Prime Contracting Through the Small Business Reserve (SBR) Program
01/28/2020 - MBE Rights & Responsibilities
Check out our full range of small business events
online at goMDsmallbiz.maryland.gov.
Property Values Rise 8.9% According to SDAT's 2020 Reassessment
The overall statewide increase for “Group 2” properties was 8.9% over the past three years according to the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). SDAT announced today its 2020 reassessment of 769,668 “Group 2” residential and commercial properties. In Maryland, there are more than 2 million property accounts which are split into three groups, each appraised once every three years.
The overall statewide increase nearly matched 2018’s 9.1% increase. This represents an average increase in value of 7.3% for all residential properties and 13.5% for all commercial properties since the last Group 2 reassessment in 2017.
The 2020 assessments for Group 2 properties were based on an evaluation of 73,106 sales that occurred within the group over the last three years. If the reassessment resulted in a property value being adjusted, any increase in value will be phased-in equally over the next three years, while any decrease in value will be fully implemented in the 2020 tax year. For the 2020 reassessment, 86.4% of Group 2 residential properties saw an increase in property value.
“All 23 counties and Baltimore City experienced an increase in residential and commercial properties for the second consecutive year, which is a good indicator the market remains strong and growth is steady,” said SDAT Director Michael Higgs. “I want to thank all of the Department’s real property assessors throughout Maryland for the hard work and dedication they have displayed this year to ensure that Maryland’s properties continue to be assessed fairly and uniformly. As part of our Tax Credit Awareness Campaign, each reassessment notice includes information about the Homeowners’ and Homestead Tax Credits, which save Marylanders more than $260 million in taxes each year.”
The Homeowners’ Tax Credit provides relief for eligible homeowners by setting a limit on the amount of property taxes that are owed based on their income. Residential property owners who complete a one-time application and meet certain eligibility requirements can also receive a Homestead Tax Credit, which limits their principal residence’s taxable assessment from increasing by more than a certain percentage each year regardless of their income level. Although statewide legislation caps the increase at no more than 10% per year, many local governments have capped property taxes at lower percentages.
Property tax assessment notices were mailed to Group 2 property owners on Friday, December 27, 2019. A map of which properties fall into Groups 1, 2, and 3 and their respective years for reassessment can be viewed on SDAT’s website here. For additional statistics and information, please visit the Department’s Statistics & Reports webpage.
Home on the Fringe: White-tailed Deer Thrive in Suburbs
Reprinted from Maryland Department of Natural Resources e-newsletter:
Suburban deer sightings are so common that few of us pay much attention anymore. White-tailed deer are everywhere – along the roadways, throughout our parks, and in our very own backyards.
Many people incorrectly presume that these animals belong in the deep woods, and the ones wandering into our neighborhoods are refugees displaced by residential, commercial, or agricultural development. In fact, development actually creates better habitat for deer. White-tailed deer are a fringe species, exploiting the benefits of forested land for cover and open areas for food, requiring a substantial portion of each to survive.
As it turns out, their natural habitat bears a striking resemblance to the one we’ve built for ourselves. When residential neighborhoods grow and multiply, they support much higher densities of deer than a natural setting would. We unwittingly provide a refuge in which a lack of natural predators, limited hunting, quality habitat, and a variety of abundant food resources combine to allow deer to reproduce at an equal or higher rate than natural environments.
Living in close proximity isn’t for everyone. While some can’t wait for another glimpse, others lament the financial costs to their property and would rather not host a herd of hungry deer
Whitetail are browsers, not grazers. Natural food sources include acorns, hickory nuts, berries, herbaceous plants, tree seedlings and other woody stems – even things like greenbrier and poison ivy!
They’re also known to satisfy their appetite at the expense of cultivated crops like corn and soybeans. And many homeowners would note that nearly all garden vegetables and ornamental plantings are on the menu as well.
Intentionally feeding neighborhood deer is strongly discouraged by wildlife professionals. Such food sources tend to attract and congregate the animals, not only increasing the chance of disease transmission between them, but also upping the danger posed to them by traffic on adjacent roadways. Even in severe winter conditions, providing food actually does the animals more harm than good, as it disrupts and overwhelms their stomach’s seasonally-tuned balance of bacteria and protozoans necessary for proper digestion.
“Despite good intentions, the reality is that feeding whitetail adversely affects not only their wildness, but also their well-being,” says Urban Deer Biologist George Timko. “ Human response to presumed deer health is often misguided and not in line with the animal’s specific biology or behavior.”
In general, most rescue efforts are ill advised. More often than not, it’s better to let wild things be wild. Keep your distance, respect the potential dangers to yourself and the animal – and though it may seem cruel – leave things in the hands of mother nature.
When in doubt – but before acting – reach out to a wildlife expert. Check out our website for a searchable list of local wildlife rescue and rehab organizations, or call our Wildlife and Heritage Service at 1-877-463-6497.
Don’t be a fawn napper!
Each spring, countless fawns are removed from their natural environment for fear of parental abandonment – a strategy intentionally employed by the mothers to protect their young. In the first few weeks of a young deer’s life, it has no scent and limited mobility. During this time, the mothers will stash their fragile offspring, returning only occasionally throughout the day to nurse before wandering away again – and in doing so, diminishing the threat she herself brings from predatory attraction.
How many is too many?
One of the more far reaching impacts of overpopulation is on the understory of our forests. Hungry deer have voraciously thinned almost all of the underbrush in high-population areas, not only challenging their generational succession, but also altering the ecosystem. This has resulted in lost flora, impacting other creatures that depend on it.
There’s also human health to consider. Robust deer herds can better support large populations of blacklegged ticks, the parasite that transmits Lyme disease — the most commonly reported tickborne disease in the United States.
Perhaps the greatest threat to us is that from motor-vehicle collisions. Across the nation, more than one million automobile accidents each year are deer-related, and several hundred of those result in human fatalities. Countless more result in severe injury and significant vehicle damage. In Maryland, there are an estimated 30,000 strikes a year.
The majority of such incidents occur in October and November, as breeding season make male and female deer more active and somewhat prone to irrational movements. Another, less-intense spike in activity can be observed in May and June, after does give birth to their young — requiring mother’s to cover more ground while foraging.
Control
If left unchecked, the number of deer in our state might very well become untenable. For decades, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has managed stable populations through well-regulated hunting practices.
Currently, the statewide deer population estimate is about 225,000, down from a one-time peak of about 300,000. Biologists credit the drop to expanded hunting seasons and bag limits. Some attempts were also made with birth control or sterilization, but to date those have proven largely ineffective.
In urban and suburban neighborhoods, hunting presents a challenge. There are examples of communities successfully reducing deer populations by conducting controlled hunts or contracting sharpshooters, but allowing such hunts requires close study, broad consensus, and special permitting.
There are also several non-lethal options to help reduce damage by exclusion or behavior control. The installation of tall or electrified fencing can help keep deer from entering yards or gardens. Individual plant protection, such as wire cages, plastic netting or tree shelters, is also commonly used. Taste and odor-based repellents are also somewhat common, but must be frequently re-applied or managed, and in some instances deer have adapted to their use.
Biologists with the Department of Natural Resources will continue to investigate both non-lethal and lethal deer control methods as they evolve, and make this information available to the public. Likewise, deer numbers will be carefully monitored and efforts will continue to manage populations at levels compatible with their human neighbors.
Additional information about the species and control options for it can be obtained online at dnr.maryland.gov, by phone at 410-260-8540 or via email at CustomerService.DNR@Maryland.gov.
dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife
Stephen Badger is a public affairs officer with the department’s Office of Communications. Appears in Vol. 22, No. 4 of the Maryland Natural Resource magazine, fall 2019.
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