The commander of one of Maryland’s many growing military bases criticized attempts to make private developments on base pay taxes, saying it would discourage them from making improvements to aging roads and infrastructure.

Col. Mary Deutsch, garrison commander at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., urged members of the Maryland Military Installation Council on Monday to reconsider state efforts to get money from the tax-exempt “enhanced use lease” developments at bases.

“The service-in-kind provided by the [enhanced used leases] is used to provide infrastructure improvements,” Deutsch said. “If there’s a tax on them, it’s going to reduce the leverage that the installations get from the developers.”

Contributions from the private contractors have kept installation at Fort Detrick ahead of the curve in preparing for the addition of 2,000 jobs through the Base Realignment and Closure process and other agencies’ growth, she said.

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Currently, Fort Detrick, Frederick County’s largest employer, has two such leases with private developers: one for the base’s central utility plant, and another for an administration and laboratory building, Deutsch said.

At Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, developer Trammell Crow is leasing more than 500 acres amid fierce debate over whether the company should pay taxes over time or a single, large payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT.

APG commander Col. Jeffrey Weissman did not express the same reservations as Deutsch, saying the 80,000-square-foot administration and lab buildings would provide some space for the jobs that will start moving from Fort Monmouth, N.J., including 340 this year.

“That project is allowing us to maintain some of our pre-BRAC infrastructure, which is definitely aging,” he said. “But it also provides us with some space for the workers phasing in and the contractors that will support them.”

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com