Appropriations 1.961 1962

General Funds $73,799 $73,774
Staff: 8.

STATE DEPARTMENT OF ASSESSMENTS AND TAXATION
Director: Albert W. Ward
301 W. Preston Street, Baltimore I Telephone: 837-9000

The General Assembly created the State Department of Assessments
and Taxation by Chapter 757, Acts of 1959. The law required that the
Governor appoint the first director of the Department; thereafter, the
office is to be held under the provisions of the Merit System. Except
for appeals, which are a function of the new Maryland Tax Court, the
State Department of Assessments and Taxation supersedes the State
Tax Commission, established in 1914, which in its turn had superseded
the State Tax Commissioner, an office created in 1878. The functions
of the early Commissioners had been limited to the assessment of the
shares of domestic corporations and national banks, assessment of the
gross receipts of certain classes of corporations, and the valuation of
distilled spirits for the purpose of State and local taxation. The
Director of the present Department in addition supervises the ad-
ministration of the assessment and tax laws of Maryland, and of each
county or city thereof; enforces a continuing method of assessment,
and requires that all property in the State be reviewed for assessment
each year; assesses the operating property, except land, of railroads
and other public utilities and contract carriers; and participates in
any proceeding in Court wherein any assessment or taxation question
is involved (Code 1957, Art. 81, sec. 232; Art. 41, sec. 318).

For each of the counties the Director appoints a Supervisor of
Assessments from a list of five nominees submitted by the County
Commissioners. The Supervisors serve during good behavior and are
removable by the Director for incompetency or other cause. The cost
of their salaries, which are fixed by law, is shared 60% by the State
and 40% by the counties. The Director also appoints a Supervisor
for Baltimore City, with important duties of investigation. The Su-
pervisor of Assessments is the chief assessor and acts as such over
local assessors.

The County Commissioners appoint the local assessors for an in-
definite period from a list of applicants examined and graded by the
Director. The assessors' salaries are fixed and paid in a manner sim-
ilar to those of the Supervisors. They review for reassessment the
property in each county of Maryland each year (Code 1957, Art. 81,
sees. 234-37).

The Director has charge of the qualifications and registration of
foreign corporations doing business in Maryland. In addition to col-
lecting an annual filing fee and accounting monthly for all such col-
lections to the Treasurer, the Director assesses the tangible personal
property of foreign corporations and distributes the proceeds to the
localities in which the property is located. He also approves and
records charters and amendments to charters of domestic corpo-
rations. By Chapter I, Acts of the Special Session of 1961, the Depart-
ment is responsible for the regulation of the savings and loan associa-
tions until such time as Chapter 205, Acts of the 1961 Regular Session
becomes effective (Code 1957, 1961 Supp., Art. 23, sees. 160A-160KK.)

Appropriations 1961 1962

General Funds $932,756 $975,050
Staff: 65.