Officials Review Complaints About Special Tax District

Prince George's County auditors are examining complaints from homeowners in a Laurel seniors community that a special tax levied against them was created unfairly and has been used improperly.

The residents of Central Parke at Victoria Falls are paying off county-issued bonds that the developer used to provide lights, roads and sidewalks for the community -- expenses usually borne by the builder but, in this instance, shifted to the homeowners through legislation the County Council approved in 2005.

Like homeowners in Montgomery County's Clarksburg community, many of the Victoria Falls residents say they were never told about the special taxing district. Others say they became aware just as they were closing on their new houses but were told that the money would be used for water and sewer service. Their bill would run about $600 to $800 a year, they said they were told.

Instead, homeowners began receiving tax bills this year nearly double that amount, and they learned that the money was being used to pay for infrastructure improvements in the two-year-old development. The tax will rise a maximum of 2 percent annually for the next 30 years.

"We feel it's dishonest," said Marilyn Abrams, 67, a Victoria Falls resident. "If the builder wanted to pass on the cost, he should have built it into the cost of the home."

Bill Slenker, president of Slenker Communities, said he welcomed the county's inquiry.

Slenker said he wants to put to rest innuendo about the project, including allegations that bond money was spent on the construction of the development's clubhouse, trails and other amenities.

"Money was only spent on public infrastructure," Slenker said. He said he has worked with builders to provide the county with documents that show "there was not one Victoria Falls resident who was not notified of the existence of the special taxing district or the use of the funds."

When County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) asked the County Council to designate Victoria Falls, a development of 609 homes for people 55 and older, as a special taxing district, he wrote in a letter that financing the costs of the infrastructure would "ensure the development of a first-rate, age-restricted residential community."

The legislation would create a "dynamic public-private partnership" between the county and builder that would bring economic development to Prince George's.

Residents see it differently.

"I thought that it was a sweetheart deal," said Edwina Braddock, an officer with the Political Interface Committee, a group formed to fight the tax. "I understand they were trying to bring high-income housing to the county, enticing them to come."