The Annapolis city council postponed a vote last night on a controversial measure that would have limited the tax increase paid by homeowners when the value of their homes rise.

After a heated exchange between sponsoring Alderman Louise Hammond and Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, the council voted 5-3 to table the measure until the Nov. 25 meeting because of the absence of Alderman David Cordle.

But the council did settle an issue that had been on the minds of some members since last year's election: whether to call female members "alderwomen" instead of the traditional "aldermen."

Last year's election ushered in the first female majority on the city council as well as the first female mayor. Since then, first-term member Classie Gillis Hoyle has pushed for an official change to the terminology in the city code.

Although some members - of both genders - opposed the change, calling it a frivolous waste of legislative time, the resolution passed last night, with two women and one man voting against it.

"I am an alderman, not an alderwoman," Hammond declared after the meeting. "I believe in tradition."

Sheila M. Tolliver, who called the measure unnecessary, and Alderman Michael W. Fox also voted against the change.

But Hoyle, who has been using the feminine title, said the change was an important step in recognizing women.

"How many years have we been calling the women men?" she asked after the meeting.

Moyer continued using the masculine title for the rest of the meeting when addressing female council members, but vowed "to change those habits immediately."

Some spectators attending the meeting would rather have seen the mayor change her position on the tax measure that was postponed. A handful of city residents sat in the back of the room clutching fluorescent yellow signs, hoping to encourage the council to pass the measure, which would reduce the amount of additional taxes the city could collect based on increased assessments from the current 10 percent to 4 percent a year.

The mayor opposed the delay, hoping to vote down the measure in time for a meeting with those who will set the city's bond rating Thursday and Friday.

"It makes it harder for me," Moyer said, to argue for a better bond rate with the legislation pending.

Moyer has said she worried the assessment cap would affect the city's financial evaluation, shift the city tax burden to renters and business owners - since it applies only to owner-occupied dwellings - and be more of a benefit to owners of expensive homes.

But Tolliver and Hammond - the bill's sponsors - who pushed for the vote delay, said their measure is necessary to protect homeowners from rising values in the state's triennial assessments - which are expected to jump between 20 percent and 40 percent in the city.

The measure also would bring the city more into line with the county's policy. The County Council reduced its limitation on the tax increase resulting from higher assessment from 4 percent to 2 percent last month.

The bill's half-dozen supporters in the audience vowed to watch the vote carefully.

"Three years from now some of you will be up for election," said real estate agent and Eastport resident Bob McWilliams. "How we vote as Annapolitans three years from now could depend largely on how you vote for this ordinance."