A judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed against the city of Aberdeen over its property taxes because all of the original plaintiffs dropped out of the case.

Harford County Circuit Judge Maurice Baldwin dismissed the case with prejudice earlier this month — meaning it cannot come before the court again, according to Aberdeen’s attorney — even though one Aberdeen resident tried to sign on as a plaintiff at the eleventh hour.

“By the time I opted in, the others had opted out,” Aberdeen resident Neil Doty said. Doty filed April 2 to join in the lawsuit, but Baldwin denied the request, agreeing with Aberdeen city attorneys that the deadline had passed 30 days after the lawsuit was originally filed in June.

“It’s a little disheartening, but I think to begin with the case only had a 50-50 chance,” Doty said Tuesday.

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Baldwin’s law clerk said the judge had no comment about the case or his ruling.

April 2 was the same day that 16 of the original 23 plaintiffs backed out of the case. The other seven already had.

Barbara Kreamer, one of the original plaintiffs, said she tried to raise funds to hire a lawyer to represent the group up until Baldwin’s decision, though she had also left the case.

According to court records, Kreamer filed to be removed from the case in March based on receiving a state tax credit that offset the city property tax — which was increased from 55 cents per $100 of assessed property value to 73.5 cents last June.

Six other original plaintiffs also asked to be removed from the case for various reasons, according to Aberdeen’s lawyer, Elwood Stark. Some had moved out of Aberdeen, he said.

City Manager Doug Miller said Tuesday the city spent about $31,000 fighting the lawsuit, clarifying that an earlier figure of $80,000 provided to The Examiner was based on a guesstimate rather than being properly researched.

mplum@baltimoreexaminer.com