Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) employees who own homes in the county could receive up to $2,500 a year off their property taxes under a bill that already has majority council support.
Bill 48-26 heads to a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13. Council President Kate Stewart is the lead sponsor, and six co-sponsors have signed on: Council members Evans, Katz, Friedson, Luedtke, Mink and Sayles. That puts seven of the 11-member council on record backing the measure, according to an opinion piece published by Moderately MOCO.
Teachers and staff at Potomac-area schools, including Winston Churchill High School, Thomas S. Wootton High School and Herbert Hoover Middle School, would be among those eligible if the bill passes.
The bill would extend to school employees the same property tax credit the county already offers certain first responders, including sworn police officers, career firefighters, emergency medical technicians and public safety emergency communications specialists. To qualify, an MCPS employee must belong to the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) or Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 500 bargaining unit, own a home in the county and live in it at least nine months a year. Administrators, principals and central-office leaders are excluded.
If two eligible employees share a household, only one credit applies per property per tax year.
What it could cost
No official fiscal-impact estimate has been completed. Stewart's sponsor memorandum, filed with the council's legislative packet, cited a Comptroller's Office count of 4,949 MCPS employees who owned homes in the county in tax year 2024. Multiplied by $2,500, that produces roughly $12.4 million, as MDBayNews reported. But MDBayNews noted the actual cost would be lower once bargaining-unit membership, shared households, occupancy rules and tax-liability caps are factored in.
Stewart framed the bill as a response to housing costs. In her sponsor memorandum, she wrote that many public school employees cannot afford to buy a home in the community where they work. The county's median home price tops $600,000, according to Gordon's analysis in the Moderately MOCO piece.
A critic's case
Not everyone sees the bill as a housing fix. Nora Gordon, a Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy professor and MCPS parent, argued in an Oct. 9 opinion piece on Moderately MOCO that the credit would reach fewer than one in five district employees because it is limited to union-member homeowners. Gordon wrote that $12 million could instead restore positions cut during the spring 2026 budget fight, including 27 pupil personnel workers, 43 social workers and 39 English composition assistants.
"No one would propose higher salaries for staff who own rather than rent, yet the Council appears willing to achieve the same ends with this policy," Gordon wrote.
How to weigh in
The public hearing begins at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13. Residents can testify in person or via Zoom. The sign-up deadline is 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12. Residents can register through the council's website or by calling 240-777-7803. Each speaker gets three minutes. Written, audio or video testimony can also be submitted online or mailed to the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave., 6th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850.
If enacted, the credit would take effect starting the tax year beginning July 1, 2027. The bill expires Dec. 7 if the council does not act. A Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee worksession is expected after the hearing, though no date has been set.
