Published July 8, 2026 at 5:05 PM EDT

The Frederick County Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to advance an increase to the eligibility and support thresholds for its elderly housing tax credit. The change will go before the public for comment on Tuesday, July 14. The council will have the opportunity to make amendments before their final vote on the policy.

Proposed by the council’s youngest member, Mason Carter, the increase will raise the income eligibility threshold from $80,000 per year, to $120,000. Daniel Lewis, the county’s chief financial officers, estimates that represents 290 more eligible seniors.

In addition, the maximum property evaluation threshold was increased from $400,000 to $500,000. Lewis explained qualified seniors will be able to receive an average of $1051 per year, compared to the former $674 average.

To qualify, residents must be over the age of 65 and have lived in their current home for at least 30 consecutive years. Victoria Venable, director of government relations, explained the age limit is actually a state requirement.

The county used to follow the state standard of 40 years of occupancy, but previously reduced that to 30. Vivian Laxton, director of communications, explained that 30 years is the average time to pay off a mortgage. Even after that has been paid off, Laxton pointed out, seniors still have to pay taxes on their home.

Lewis estimates the amendment, in total, will cost the county $821,000, or 0.08% of its $1 billion budget.

Need for Change

Frederick does not have a crystal ball to know what inflation rates will be like in the future, Venable said. As Frederick remains Maryland’s fastest growing county, it has experienced an ever growing economy. Yet as salaries increase, she said, so does cost of living. “We looked at what the area median income is now in 2026 and that’s how we decided it was important to update that eligibility level,” Venable said.

Lewis explained that the elderly housing tax credit was tied to the county’s area median income, or AMI. Without constant attention, policies like this can fall behind, which is why the county added a consumer price index (CPI) escalator several years ago, he said.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI is a, “measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.” By accounting for changes in the CPI, Lewis said the tax credit could stay closer to helping seniors meet their needs.

Lewis said the measure is not perfect, as Frederick’s inflation is growing faster than the CPI can keep up with. This, he explained, forces the county to manually update the policy from time to time.

Housing Crisis

Frederick County released its housing study earlier this year, which revealed approximately 80% of all housing units were single family homes. This has created a distinct shortage in “missing middle housing, the gradient between apartments and single family homes. These are multi-family dwellings like duplexes, stacked fourplexes, courtyard buildings and townhouses.

Venable pointed to Frederick’s fast growth rate as a unique challenge the county faces. With increased immigration comes all the more demand, yet what has been built over the last 20 years is not meeting the needs of seniors. “So the challenge that we’re now faced with, just like many other communities across the country, is finding a way for our older adults to be able to age in place in houses that were not really built for that purpose,” Venable said.

Then Venable pointed across the entire country, stating many communities have faced turbulent housing markets for several years now. She listed the covid-19 pandemic as one of the forces that went well beyond the control of any local government.

Yet one thing the county can control is its own land, as Venable stated they are exploring building more senior-accessible housing on county property. “Putting affordable housing on county owned land helps the developer lower their land costs and help us as a community reach deeper affordability levels for the people who will eventually live in those units,” Venable said.

In an email to WYPR, Vivian Laxton confirmed there are two projects on county owned land located at the Montevue campus and on Taney Avenue. These account for 140 new housing units, with the goal being to, “to maximize the number of sites for seniors on fixed income.”

The public will have the opportunity to comment on the amendment in the coming weeks. Council President Brad Young said he hopes to see the tax credit amended further to 50% AMI in future budgets.