Director Expects Property Values to Rise after Slump

Opiribo Jack, Aberdeen’s finance director for the last five years, said he expects property values in the city to go down slightly, but because of BRAC he thinks values will then steadily rise.

The Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation Property assessed the values of property in Aberdeen in January. 

“We still have some good years going forward. People will come in [because of BRAC], which will increase construction in offices and homes,” said Jack.

that the construction of office buildings instead of retail buildings on Long Drive has decreased the value of their property.

Jack recently for July 2011 through November 2011 at a City Council meeting on Jan. 11. The report compares actual receipts and expenses to budgeted amounts for the various funds.

Overall, Aberdeen's total receipts exceeded expenses by $2.4 million. There were $11.8 million in receipts and loan proceeds and $9.4 million in expenses, according to the report.

“The gap will get smaller as the year progresses, and the reason is this: especially the general fund gets most of its money from property taxes and will bill property taxes twice a year–July and December–so almost all of the money comes in before January so we have a lot of cash on hand. As the year goes by, the cash goes down,” Jack said. 

Jack gave an example of when a surplus came in handy. Unplanned money was used one year ago after the police department’s pension went significantly high partly because of the stock market.

“There’s no way unless you’re God to know exactly how much you’re going to get and how much you’re going to spend. You just budget and hope everything is OK. Usually, almost always there’s going to be a difference, but you want it to be a surplus rather than a deficit, and the city has been on the surplus side since I’ve been here,” said Jack.