Baltimore Bills Reach Back to 2013, With Interest Now Attached

Baltimore homeowners are receiving tax notices for balances that originated more than a decade ago.

The Baltimore City Department of Finance told WMAR-2 News it changed the format of annual bills to provide a more transparent view of outstanding balances, including amounts carried from prior years. The department said earlier bills did not fully capture everything owed. The notices list amounts tied to the 2013-14 tax year and later periods, with individual figures ranging from 53 cents to $1,299.36. The department has not said how many property owners received these notices or how much it expects to collect.

Ellen Townsend received a notice covering $40.35 from the 2013-14 tax year and 53 cents from 2015-16. She told the station she pays her taxes in full annually and no longer keeps records from those years. She was informed she did not owe the 53 cents. Tywanna Gardner, who is retired, received a bill for $1,299.36 that includes a 2013 balance. Gardner said city staff previously told her she owed nothing further, and that she was later told the current amount was all interest. Her notice lists an Oct. 31 payment deadline.

Baltimore's rules address how small unpaid sums grow. According to the city's real property tax bill page, unpaid taxes after Oct. 1 accrue 1% interest and a 1% penalty each month. City Councilwoman Odette Ramos said she has fielded several questions about the notices and is awaiting answers from the Finance Department. She noted the bills go directly to owners rather than mortgage companies, which often pay taxes from escrow, and said homeowners might assume the notices are errors. "I appreciate Finance working to collect everything we are owed. However the bills should have been correct the first time," she told WMAR-2 News.

The city's 2026 tax sale notice states an owner-occupied home could avoid the sale by reducing the overdue balance below $1,000, with a $750 threshold for other residential property. The 2026 sale was set for May 18, with an April 30 payment deadline. The city sends a final bill and legal notice in early February and a letter in early April before each sale. The Finance Department has not said whether the newly listed amounts would count toward the 2027 sale.

The department said it will abate bills determined to be incorrect or not applicable on a case-by-case basis. Property owners can reach Revenue Collections at 410-396-3000 to request a breakdown by tax year of principal, interest and penalties, or look up open balances through the Department of Finance website. Revenue Collections is at Counter 2 of the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, 200 N. Holliday St., weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The city's tax sale ombudsman can be reached at 410-396-3023, and the Maryland Homeowners' Property Tax Credit help line is 410-767-4433.