Prince George's Council Supports Tax Hike|NewsChannel 8

The Prince George's County Council has voted its support of the county executive's plan to increase property taxes.

The vote, five to three, with one abstention, backs Jack Johnson's request that the General Assembly change the formula used to calculate property tax hikes....

The county executive is asking the general assembly to change the current property tax formula, in hopes the added revenue will help reduce the $130 million deficit. "We can only raise the tax to 5 percent or the cost of living index. Statewide, the law says you can do it 10 percent, so what we want to do is raise it to the statewide level," said Johnson.