- This study, prepared for the Queen Anne’s Conservation Association, presents the key findings of an assessment of budget and fiscal trends for Queen Anne’s County, Maryland. It examines several myths about development and its relationship to the County’s fiscal position:
- A lack of residential development has hurt the county’s fiscal health.
- Increased residential development will lead to healthier fiscal conditions
- More commercial zoning can solve the county’s budget problems.
- Agriculture and open space are unproductive land uses.
- Between 2000-2009, county revenues grew drastically, primarily because of increasing taxable income and appreciating real estate values driven by rising property values for existing properties, not because of new development. Queen Anne’s county has derived a substantial amount of revenue, despite a relatively small number of residents, from its large agricultural industry, which creates large amounts of productive, tax-paying land and generates few residents that require services.
- In fiscal years 2010 and 2011, amidst the nationwide recession, the county faced a budget deficit. It is clear that the lack of development in the county was not to blame. It was caused mainly by the loss of State Highway User Revenue funding and decreasing income tax revenue.
- Agricultural lands, other open space, and Chesapeake Bay waterfront have increased the quality of life in the county, and therefore property values.
- Absorbing new and expanding businesses into existing commercial developments, including the use of vacant built space and vacant or underutilized parcels in already zoned lands, would be the most effective way to plan for and attract more businesses to the county.
Prepared by AKRF, Inc
