After a nearly three-hour work session Monday, June 27 on how to make a proposed property tax credit for swim clubs more equitable, the bill's sponsor decided she would amend the legislation to provide a proportioned credit in lieu of a full credit.

"We're trying to even out the differences in how pools are assessed so it's a level playing field," Ellicott City Democrat Courtney Watson said. The bill is co-sponsored by Fulton Republican Greg Fox.

The council members learned from Renee Mierczak, supervisor of assessments for Howard County, that Columbia Association pools are assessed at a lower rate than the county's six nonprofit swim clubs because of the different developmental values of the land.

CA pools sit on land designated as open space, which cannot be developed, she explained. Nonprofit pools are assessed at a higher rate because their property could be sold and developed.

"The way (CA is) being assessed right now is very favorable," Fox said, noting it is a set rate that has not been adjusted for inflation.

Watson's amendment will grant the six eligible nonprofit clubs a tax credit worth the percentage difference between the assessment rate for their pool and the average assessment rate for a CA pool. (CA has 23 outdoor pools.)

"It gives a little bit of help to the clubs, but not 100 percent," she said.

Watson said she sees the amendment as a fair solution because the state enabling legislation prevents the county from being able to grant the credit to CA, according to opinions from county attorneys and advice they obtained from the state.

But council member Mary Kay Sigaty, a Columbia Democrat, said for the bill to be equitable in her mind, it needs to include a provision requiring the swim clubs to provide some sort of subsidy for low-income families, like CA offers its residents.

Council Chairman Calvin Ball, also a Columbia Democrat, added: "I think one of the challenges is there are several perspectives on what equity is."