Baltimore City Property Tax: Rates, Due Dates, and Credits

Baltimore City property tax is charged at $2.248 per $100 of assessed value for fiscal year 2026, one of the highest municipal rates in Maryland.¹ Bills go out July 1 and are due on receipt, with a small discount for paying in full by July 31 and a semi-annual option for most homeowners. A home assessed at $250,000 owes $5,620 in city real property tax for the year before any credits are applied.²

How Your Bill Is Calculated

The Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), not the city, sets the value your tax is based on. SDAT appraises every property once every three years at its fair market value, working through roughly a third of the city each year.³

When a reassessment raises your value, Maryland phases the increase in over three years. If your property moves from $200,000 to $230,000, the taxable assessment climbs by $10,000 a year until it reaches the new figure.⁴ Decreases apply right away.

The arithmetic is simple. Divide the phased-in assessed value by 100, then multiply by the rate. Any credits you qualify for come off that total.

Current Rates for Fiscal Year 2026

The Baltimore City Council sets rates each June as part of the budget. For fiscal year 2026, which runs July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026:

Real property: $2.248 per $100 of assessed value
Personal property: $5.62 per $100 of assessed value

The personal property rate covers business equipment, inventory, and other tangible business assets rather than homes and land.¹ The real property rate has held at $2.248 across several recent fiscal years.

When Payment Is Due and How to Pay

Bills are mailed July 1 and due on receipt. Paying the full annual amount by July 31 earns a half-percent discount, worth about $28 on a $5,620 bill.²

The Semi-Annual Option

Owner-occupants and small business owners whose annual bill is under $100,000 can split the payment. The first half is due by September 30, the second half by December 31.⁵ The city may add a service fee of up to 1.65% on the second installment. You can stay on the single-payment schedule instead if you prefer.

Payment Methods

Online payments go through the city’s portal. Electronic checks (ACH) are free; credit cards carry a 2.39% convenience fee.⁶ You can also mail a check or money order to the Director of Finance, or pay in person at the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, where you’ll get a stamped copy of the bill as a receipt. If you’ve lost the paper bill, the Bureau of Revenue Collections has an online lookup that pulls your account by address.

What Late Payment Costs

Overdue property taxes carry 1% interest plus a 1% penalty for each month they stay unpaid, a combined 2% per month.⁷ Those charges compound fast, and a long-delinquent account eventually goes to tax sale.

Credits That Can Lower Your Bill

Homestead Tax Credit

The Homestead Tax Credit caps the yearly growth in your taxable assessment at 4% in Baltimore City, no matter how much market value rises.⁸ If a reassessment pushes your value up 15%, you still only pay on a 4% increase each year until the taxable amount catches up to the market figure.

To qualify, you must hold legal title, use the property as your principal residence, and have lived there for at least six months of the tax year. The credit requires a one-time application through SDAT. Longtime owners who never applied often don’t realize they’re paying more than they need to.

Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit

This state-funded credit limits property tax relative to income for lower-income households. Combined gross household income must be under $60,000. The formula applies no tax on the first $8,000 of income, then rising percentages above that.⁹ The deadline is October 1 each year. Filing by April 15 lets the credit reduce the July bill rather than arrive later as a refund.

Disabled Veteran Exemption

Veterans with a 100% permanent and total service-connected disability rating from the VA can receive a full exemption from real property tax on the home and the surrounding yard.¹⁰ The application goes to the local Supervisor of Assessments through SDAT and must include documentation of the VA’s final rating.¹¹

Appealing Your Assessment

If SDAT overvalued your property, Maryland provides a three-level appeal. The grounds that work are factual errors in the property record (wrong square footage, a garage that isn’t there, incorrect lot size) and comparable sales showing similar nearby homes selling for less than your assessed value. Arguments that the tax is too high or that you can’t afford it will not move a review board.

You have 45 days from the date of a reassessment notice to file. The first stage is an informal hearing with an assessor designated by the Supervisor of Assessments, usually about 15 minutes, where you present your evidence.¹² If the result doesn’t satisfy you, you have 30 days to appeal to the Property Tax Assessment Appeal Board (PTAAB), a local panel appointed by the Governor. A final appeal goes to the Maryland Tax Court within 30 days of the PTAAB decision.

In off years when your property isn’t formally reassessed, you can still file a petition for review by the first business day of January. That matters when local market conditions have moved against your valuation.

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

Baltimore City holds a tax sale once a year, generally during the third week of May.¹³ A non-owner-occupied property becomes eligible when the delinquent balance reaches $250. For owner-occupied homes, the threshold is $750.²

At the sale, the city auctions tax lien certificates to private investors. You keep title to the property but now owe the debt to the certificate holder, with interest running at 12% per year on an owner-occupied principal residence and 18% per year on everything else.⁷

You can redeem by paying the lien amount, accrued interest, and any legal fees the certificate holder has incurred. The window is tight. Six months after the sale, the holder of a certificate on a non-owner-occupied residential property can file for foreclosure. For owner-occupied homes, that opens at nine months.¹³ If you haven’t redeemed by July 1 after the sale, the new fiscal year’s taxes also pile on top of the original debt. If foreclosure proceeds and you don’t redeem, the court can transfer title and end your ownership for good.

This outcome is avoidable. If you get a notice that your property is heading to tax sale, contacting the Bureau of Revenue Collections before the May auction is the most effective step you can take.

One Note on Taxes at Purchase

Annual property tax is separate from the transfer and recordation taxes you pay at closing when buying or selling. Maryland’s state transfer tax is 0.5% of the sale price (0.25% for first-time Maryland buyers, with the seller covering the savings), Baltimore City adds a 1.5% local transfer tax (2.1% on transactions over $1 million), and the state recordation tax runs $5 per $500 of the transaction amount.¹⁴ If you’re budgeting for a purchase rather than an annual bill, factor these in separately.

1
Baltimore City. City Tax Rates
2
Baltimore City. Real Property Tax Bills
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Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. Real Property
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Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. A Homeowners Guide to Property Taxes and Assessments
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Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. Question and Answers on Semiannual Property Tax Payment
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City of Baltimore. Online Payments and Account Lookup
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City of Baltimore Law Library. Baltimore City Code 28-21-5 – Interest and Civil Penalties
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Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Tax-Property 9-105 – Homestead Property Tax Credit
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Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. Homeowners Property Tax Credit Program
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Department of Veterans and Military Families. Tax Exemptions
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Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation. Application for Exemption for Disabled Veterans
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Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. Assessment Appeal Process
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Baltimore City. Tax Sale Process
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Baltimore City. Recordation Taxes