AS ECONOMIC development tools, property tax breaks for developers can be valuable incentives. To compete with other cities for major hotels and other construction projects, Baltimore needs such tools. That, quite simply, ais fact of life that policy-makers can't ignore.

Hearings today in Annapolis will look at an amended bill that would help level the playing field for Baltimore, following a Circuit Court decision late last year to curb the city's use of "payment in lieu of taxes" (PILOT) programs. The bill is supported by most members of Baltimore's legislative delegation.

We have some concerns about the bill: The tax breaks can last as long as 25 years, and they would be available only to projects located in 10 "urban renewal areas." On balance, though, we agree that the General Assembly should restore the possibility of limited tax breaks for developers. The breaks should not be free lunches for developers; the benefits to the city -- in jobs created and other sources of revenue -- must be proved.

None of this is to say that the most prominent project likely to receive a PILOT under this bill -- the Wyndham hotel -- is any less ill-conceived today than it was six months or a year ago. The hotel is still too remotely located to meet the city's pressing need for a new convention hotel. It is also too tall to be anything but an eyesore on the harbor front.

The original decision to grant a PILOT to the hotel was wrong, made by officials who, for the most part, will face re-election this year. Election Day would be an appropriate time for voters to show their displeasure with those officials who approved the project despite significant community opposition.

To deny the city of Baltimore the potential benefits of PILOTs, though, would be a terrible mistake. The fault is not in the program but, rather, in a prominent, ill-advised application.