Montgomery County (Map, News) - The Montgomery County Council has approved a small cut to the county’s the property tax rate, but savings to residents could still be wiped out when council members consider the size of the year’s tax credit package.

Council members voted 7-1 to cut the property tax rate by 2.2 percent, but leaders reminded a packed auditorium that the council will review the entire budget Thursday and can make adjustments. While homeowners need to wait for decisions on tax credits to know exactly how this will affect them, businesses, which aren’t eligible for homeowner credits, will benefit regardless of the final package.

Councilman George Leventhal said the county’s efforts in recent years to use credits to shift the tax burden from homeowners to commercial property owners is noble, but will eventually affect residents anyhow.

“There is a point at which every tax is going to be passed through,” Leventhal said. “If a movie theater is going to pay far higher property taxes, we’ll pay for it in tickets.”

Montgomery County has been working to shore up its commercial base since new state taxes threatened to drive businesses and business owners into Virginia.

County Executive Ike Leggett’s budget proposal included an 8.3 percent increase in the property tax rate, the largest in 20 years, but came with a $1,014 tax credit that he said would protect residents who own average and less expensive property.

Leggett slammed the council’s decision to cut the tax rate.

“The average person won’t concentrate on the rate but what the actual tax bill is,” Leggett said. “I am afraid you will see for some people in the middle and below a huge, huge increase compared to what I was doing.”

Councilman Marc Elrich was the lone vote against cutting the tax rate, said he ran an analysis on some area businesses to see how much they’d save.

“There were 110 huge commercial properties that will save $2 million,” Elrich said. “Who’s being protected here, the poor renters or the guys who own the big car companies and office buildings?”

kmiller@dcexaminer.com