FOX 5 EXCLUSIVE: Maryland to pay $11 million to homeowners after tax error

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - The state will pay over $11 million in refunds to some Maryland homeowners after a Montgomery County man uncovered a mistake by the state taxation department... ...Louis Wilen of Olney discovered in 2016 that the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, or SDAT, was deducting other tax credits from the HTC. For four years, he sounded the alarm. "I did put a lot of work into it," said Wilen. "I didn’t anticipate putting so much work into it, but it just kept building." Now his work has paid off, literally, for thousands of people... https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fox-5-exclusive-some-maryland-homeowners-will-be-paid-11m-after-a-state-tax-mistake

Lawmakers want millions in refunds for Maryland taxpayers after error

Montgomery County Civic Federation, Inc.: Louis Wilen - Our MCCF Community Hero

In November, the Montgomery County Civic Federation is proud to recognize Louis Wilen of Olney as our Community Hero. 

Louis is a member of the Cherrywood Homeowners Association Board of Directors and a delegate to the Greater Olney Civic Association. He has served as a member of the MCCF Executive Committee and Chair of its Public Utilities Committee. 

We honor Louis Wilen for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the citizens of Montgomery County where he has lived since 1994. A career software developer and technical support specialist for IBM Corporation, Louis has taken special interest in examining complicated public policy issues and identifying the underlying problems that require solutions by elected officials and public sector experts.

One of Louis' more recent analyses revealed that the State of Maryland has been improperly removing millions of dollars (in the aggregate) of property tax credits from homeowners. According to an October 2020 state government audit, Maryland has been miscalculating a tax credit for homeowners for years. Last year alone, just in Montgomery County, the error led to thousands of taxpayers losing significant amounts of money. Auditors found Homeowner Tax Credits (HTC) awarded to 5,388 applicants were improperly reduced by $4.4 million, and that’s just in Montgomery County, for fiscal year 2019. The error dates back to at least 2005, according to the report. The State does not plan to return the money.

Wilen's analysis revealed that the Maryland State Department of Assessment and Taxation (SDAT) has wrongly been deducting other tax credits from the HTC, which benefits low and moderate income families, seniors and people who may have lost their jobs, thereby improperly increasing their tax bills.

His longstanding and continuing efforts to get State and County officials to address the issue were ignored and dismissed for over three years. Finally, however, after contacting the Maryland State Office of Legislative Audits, the state performed its own audit of SDAT which confirmed the scale of the miscalculations and overcharges to residents. His work also caught the attention of Montgomery County State Delegate Al Carr. Carr plans to introduce legislation in the upcoming Annapolis session that will require the state to pay back a portion of the improperly removed credits. 

 

This is not the first time that Louis has received recognition for his community service. In 2007, Louis received the President's Award from the Greater Olney Civic Association for his work in spurring passage of the Homestead Credit Verification Act of 2007. In 2020, the Civic Federation is proud to recognize Louis Wilen again for his service and advocacy and to honor him as our Community Hero. Click here to see Fox5’s coverage of this issue.. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/maryland-shortchanges-taxpayers-millions-of-dollars-according-to-state-audit

'I just saw the report over the weekend,' Hogan on FOX 5 exclusive: Md. taxpayers shortchanged millions

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/i-just-saw-the-report-over-the-weekend-hogan-on-fox-5-exclusive-md-taxpayers-shortchanged-millions

Maryland shortchanges taxpayers millions of dollars, according to state audit

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Maryland has been shortchanging people millions of dollars on their tax returns according to a new state audit (State Department of Assessments and Taxation).

Auditors found the state has been miscalculating a tax credit for homeowners for years, and last year alone, just in Montgomery County, the error led to thousands of taxpayers losing out on a total of $4.4 million...

...Louis Wilen, a retired computer programmer from Montgomery County, discovered the problem four years ago. It’s not the first time he’s found a tax flaw in Maryland...

https://www.fox5dc.com/news/maryland-shortchanges-taxpayers-millions-of-dollars-according-to-state-audit

WPOST: Jerry Weast, superintendent of Montgomery schools, to retire in June

The Washington Post: Jerry Weast, superintendent of Montgomery schools, to retire in June

...Weast is not without critics. Some in the community contend that he often pretends to listen to others but ignores points of view that are not in line with where he wants to lead the schools.

"I've been disturbed that his focus has been on the national community instead of running the local schools," said Lyda Astrove, a frequent Weast critic and member of the watchdog group Parents' Coalition. Astrove, who is running for an at-large seat on the school board, has been dissatisfied in her interactions with the county in obtaining special education services for her child. She said that Weast had been quick to shut out people who disagreed with him. Two other members of the Parents' Coalition are running for school board seats, four of seven of which are up for election this year...

Berthiaume: "They outwit, outlast and outplay."

Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume writes about the Board of Education's failure to exercise their power to oversee the school system in a letter to the editor in The Washington Post.

Maybe it's time for voters to "outwit, outlast and outplay" the incumbent Board of Education members and vote them off the island?

The Washington Post - Letter to Editor: Who really controls the Montgomery schools
By Laura V. Berthiaume
Rockville
Sunday, July 25, 2010

...In the balance of power between the board of education and the bureaucracy, the superintendent and his staff hold all the cards. They outwit, outlast and outplay. In my experience, the board actually has little to no impact on union contract negotiations: The superintendent and his staff negotiate the contracts. Even if there ever were actual board opposition, it would be met with a fierce, resolute wall of angry staff.

Given that Dr. Weast is the one who negotiated and recommended the contracts, budget and benefits over the past 10 years that are now the subject of so much complaint, is it not hypocritical to excoriate the MCEA for unrealistic salaries and benefits yet praise Dr. Weast and demand that his contract be renewed? Both The Post and the voters should consider this issue carefully this fall.

Weast and the Board: Who should be on the way out?

by Frederick Stichnoth

I hope you saw Leah Fabel's article in Sunday's Examiner: MontCo schools chief on the way out (Page 5).

Generally, the article said that six of the Montgomery County Board of Education members (all but President Patricia O'Neill) would welcome Superintendent Jerry Weast's departure, largely because of his "imperial attitude," "he's Machiavelli," he uses "bullying tactics."  I've been irritated by these things too.

However, I would ascribe blame elsewhere. Weast is at the center of the Montgomery County political system, and heads a large and important bureaucracy. Given his function, he must manipulate the levers of power, and I greatly respect his skill in doing so.

He has seated other potentially competing powers at his "table," and thereby largely neutralized them.  I would include the unions, the County Council and MCCPTA.

I would also include, first and foremost, the Board of Education. The Board has great statutory powers (to establish policy, including curricula, and to set the budget) but has subordinated itself to the position of a rather insignifcant department in Weast's bureaucracy. (Some members, most notably Ms. Berthiaume, occasionally battle to establish some independence. Perhaps if the six members who want Weast gone had exercised their responsibilities consistently and cooperatively, then system management and priorities would not be so warped.) Weast's necessary exercise of power must be checked through a governance system of checks and balances, which the Board has squandered.

I also find it interesting that President O'Neill is said to approve of Weast's method of operation. It reminds me that Ms. O'Neill called Gifted and Talented parents who pressed to have a role on school improvement teams "PIAs--pain-in-the ass parents." (Board of Education meeting 5/12/09) Current Board of Education VP Barclay said that they were "not agreeable" and "don't know how to agree to disagree;" they should be "respectful" and "professional." In the classic line applied to John Bolton: "Kiss up, kick down."

The Board needs to reassert its prerogatives. This will require responsibility from the individual Board members, and voter insistence on that they assume responsibility. We have the opportunity to make Board responsibility the significant issue that it should be at the forthcoming elections, in which incumbents Brandman, Docca, O'Neill and Durso put their records up for scrutiny.

2010 Board of Education Elections

4 Board of Education  seats are up for election this year.

Mark your calendar for the upcoming election dates:

Primary - September 14, 2010

General - November 2, 2010

Louis Wilen files for Board of Education seat

Louis Wilen of Olney, Maryland has filed a notice of Candidacy for the Montgomery County Board of Education District 5 seat that is up for election in the fall of 2010.


Louis Wilen for Board of Education campaign page here.

Louis Wilen for Board of Education Facebook page
here.


UPDATE: September 1, 2010

The Municipal and County Government Organization (MCGEO) has endorsed Louis Wilen for Board of Education in the District 5 race.

Lyda Astrove files for Board of Education seat

Lyda Astrove of Rockville, Maryland has filed a notice of Candidacy for the Montgomery County Board of Education at-large seat that is up for election in the fall of 2010.


Ms. Astrove can be contacted by e-mail at: lydaforboe@hotmail.com


Lyda Astrove's campaign site is here.


Lyda Astrove for BOE Facebook page here.