The Politics Meister

The following email was sent out to elected officials, unelected officials, media members, and regular taxpaying citizens:

To Whom It May Concern:

Baltimore County online tax records show that Belinda Conaway’s homestead property tax credited Randallstown property taxes for the current fiscal year were partially paid on July 28, 2011. She once against received a homestead property tax credit for the property despite all the controversy surrounding this issue and her lawyer’s claim that she would correct the records.

A quick review:

In March of 2011 I wrote an article about Baltimore City Councilwoman Belinda Conaway’s house in Randallstown. The article focused on Ms. Conaway receiving a homestead property tax credit at her Randallstown property and her listing the address as her principal residence on signed real estate related documents. Despite these documents and the fact that SDAT listed the Randallstown property as her principal residence, Ms. Conaway insisted she lived at 3210 Liberty Heights in Baltimore City with her father. She sued me for millions of dollars in May and in August she dismissed the frivolous libel lawsuit against me:

“But at a hearing called on Meister’s motion to dismiss the suit, Maronick told Circuit Court Judge John P. Miller that the case could not go forward because Conaway had, in fact, signed a document stipulating that the Randallstown address was her primary residence for tax purposes. Maronick said she had signed the document by mistake years ago and did not see it again until after filing the lawsuit in May.

“We did not actually see that document initially,” Maronick told the judge.

Meister, sitting in the gallery, could be seen mouthing, “It’s on the Internet.”

After such an embarrassing predicament one would think that the councilwoman who chairs the budget and appropriations committee would clarify her situation.  Below are some very important quotes pertaining to the current situation (bold print added by me):

May 11, 2011- “Conaway’s attorney, Thomas Maronick, says the Randallstown home in Baltimore County is listed on tax records as a primary residence since Conaway and her husband file jointly and he lives there part-time. He says Conaway seeks to correct the records.“

June 20, 2011- “The latest documents, posted last week by the website Baltileaks, indicate that Conaway and her husband received an $8,700 line of credit from the Municipal Employee Credit Union of Baltimore on the Randallstown home in January 2010.

The couple signed a statement ‘Under oath and penalties of perjury’ affirming that the Randallstown home “is his/ her / their principal place of residence,” according to the documents, which are posted on a state land records website.

Maronick said that Conaway and her husband, Milton D. Washington, purchased the home in the 9800 block of Southall Road in Randallstown in 1997 and lived there “briefly” with their two children and her mother.

Soon afterward, Maronick said, Conaway moved to her father’s spacious home in the 3200 block of Liberty Heights Avenue in the city, which is closer to her son’s school.

Maronick said Conaway’s mother and Washington live in the Randallstown home.

Baltimore County tax records indicate that Conaway and her husband sought and received a $708 Homestead Tax Credit for the Randallstown home last year.

Maronick said that Conaway would pay back any tax credit that was received improperly.”

June 21, 2011- “It was a mistake, according to her attorney Thomas J. Maronick Jr.

“She unfortunately, when you go to settlement, even people who are sophisticated individuals like a city councilwoman don’t always read everything before they sign it,” Maronick said. “There’s a lot of small print boiler plate language and let’s be honest it sometimes just doesn’t get read.”

Maronick said a mistake was also responsible for some of the other documents Meister dug up earlier this year, showing that Belinda Conaway claimed annual homestead tax credits on the Randallstown property – credits that can only be legally claimed on a primary residence.

“We have said that. As far as any tax benefits she got and shouldn’t have, she will pay them,” Maronick said. “My client will obviously return any money she is not supposed to have received… She is not looking to get … special favors.“

Belinda Conaway’s homestead property tax credited Randallstown property
taxes for the current fiscal year were partially paid on July 28, 2011 according to Baltimore County. Look at these three screen shots from the Baltimore County Website:

Screen Shot 1- Shows the current 2012 fiscal year and the Randallstown address along with its owners.

Screen Shot 2-Shows that a semi-annual payment was made on 7-28-2011

Screen Shot 3- Shows that a $639.55 Homestead property tax credit was applied to the yearly tax total that was the basis of the semi-annual payment.

The Randallstown property is still listed as her principal residence according to SDAT.

Instead of paying money back, the Baltimore County website shows that Belinda Conaway has already paid half of her 2012 property taxes that once again have the homestead property tax credit. It appears nothing has been paid back and nothing has been corrected.

So when is Ms. Conaway going to have to choose? She can not have things both ways. If she lives in Randallstown then she can get the tax credit there, but she can not say she lives with her Dad in Baltimore and she should not represent the 7th District on City Council.  If she insists that she lives in Baltimore then she owes Baltimore County numerous years of back taxes from improperly acquired homestead property tax credits.

Conaway has not fixed anything or returned any money according to the sites I have referenced despite her lawyer claiming on numerous occasions that things were going to be corrected. Our leaders need to investigate this ongoing situation and Ms. Conaway should do the honorable thing and resign. No matter matter who wins the election I am not giving up this quest. In these hard economic times leaders should not be allowed to play games with property tax money.   Just because leaders have gotten away with these kind of things for years does not make them right. This all needs to end now.

This story has been quite an adventure. The frivolous lawsuit was worth it because it brought attention to this important matter and brought up important free speech issues. If you like this kind of investigative reporting then I urge you to bookmark www.BaltimoreHourly.com. This site currently leads to my blog, but eventually it will take you to my currently in the planning stage online newspaper, ‘Baltimore Hourly“.

I will leave you with this ironic quote from the May 25, 2011 City Paper (Bold Print added by me):
“Resolution 11-0290R Request for State Legislation – Closing a Homestead Tax Credit Loophole

Asks the Baltimore City delegation to the General Assembly to work to secure passage of legislation preventing banks from benefitting from Homestead Tax Credits.

The Read: Maryland Homestead Tax Credits limit the increase in taxable assessments each year to a fixed percentage. The credits are ostensibly restricted to property owners who live on the premises, but according to the resolution, sponsored by Councilmember Belinda Conaway (D-7th District), less deserving entities are apparently reaping the rewards after evicting homeowners through foreclosure. The resolution cites unspecified reports “that some . . . banks refuse to finalize the transfer of a property into their names after foreclosure so that the banks can take advantage of the Homestead Property Tax Credit to reduce the amount of taxes that they rightfully should be paying to local and State governments.” The resolution asks the Baltimore City delegation’s help close the loophole in state law that has allowed for this turn of events.”

Takes one to know one.

Regards,

Adam Meister