Every member of the Stephanie Rawlings Blake administration, every member of the Baltimore City Council, and every member of every community association in the city should read the paper recently written by Stephen Walters and Louis Miserendino. It spells out why and how Baltimore must reduce its property tax rate – now. Here’s the link.

In short, it uses the examples of San Francisco and Boston – two cities that were forced to slash their property tax rates due to statewide referenda (remember Prop 13 in California). Despite draconian predictions, the authors show how both cities benefited from the tax cuts through increases in investment and repopulation.

We all know the reality here.

1) The city’s property tax rate is at least double that of the counties. Those are real dollars. I can name any number of folks I know of who would like to live in the city but opted for Baltimore County solely because of the lower monthly payment due to lower property taxes.

2) City officials have long known what a barrier the current tax rate poses. That’s why they give tax breaks to private developers as a means to level the playing field with surrounding jurisdictions.

3) Fully one third of property in the city is tax-exempt. That’s because the only growth industry in the city is in the non-profit sector, which doesn’t have to pay property taxes.

We’re about to turn the calendar page to 2011. It’s an election year in the city – the perfect time for city taxpayers to demand a real debate about the property tax rate – and real proposals to reduce it to a level that gives the city a chance to compete.