There is a Department of Assessments and Taxation established as a department of the State government.

The head of the Department is the Director of Assessments and Taxation, who shall be appointed by the Governor. The Director shall be an individual who has executive ability and who is trained and experienced in the tax field. Before taking office, the appointee shall take the oath required by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution.

The Director may employ staff and consultants in accordance with the State budget.

The Director shall designate one employee of the Department to be “State Supervisor of Assessments” and other employees of the Department to be “assessments area supervisors”. Subject to the direction of the Director, the State Supervisor of Assessments and the assessments area supervisors shall supervise the performance of duties of the supervisors and the various assessors appointed under this title. The State Supervisor of Assessments and the assessments area supervisors are in the management service of the State Personnel Management System. However, they shall hold their positions during good behavior and may be removed from their positions only after a hearing before the Department and a finding of incompetency or other cause.

There is a supervisor for each county. In this subsection and subsection (c) of this section, “appropriate county official” means the Mayor of Baltimore City, the county commissioners or county council of each county, or, if the county charter provides for a county executive, the county executive with the approval of the county council. Each supervisor: shall be appointed by the Director; and shall be in the management service of the State Personnel Management System. The Director shall appoint each supervisor from a list of five qualified individuals submitted to the Director by the appropriate county official. The Director shall give the appropriate county official written notice that a vacancy exists in that county. Unless the Director extends the period on written request from the appropriate county official, the appropriate county official shall submit its list of nominees to the Director on or before 60 days from the date the Director notifies the official of the vacancy. If the Director finds that none of the nominees on a list meets the qualifications set under § 2–109 of this subtitle, the Director may reject all of them and request the appropriate county official to provide a new list. If the appropriate county official does not submit a new list within 20 days of receiving the Director’s request, the Director may appoint any qualified individual. In addition to the qualifications set under § 2–109 of this subtitle, a supervisor: may not hold any other public office of profit; and on appointment, need not be a resident of the county for which the supervisor was appointed, but shall become a resident of the county after the appointment is made. The appropriate county official may waive the residency requirement of paragraph (1)(ii) of this subsection. If the appropriate county official nominates an individual under subsection (b)(3) of this section who is not currently a resident of the county, the residency requirement of paragraph (1)(ii) of this subsection is waived for that individual. A supervisor may be removed from office only after a hearing before the Department and a finding of incompetency or other cause. The classifications and salaries of supervisors shall be set in accordance with the provisions of Division I of the State Personnel and Pensions Article.

Each county shall provide the supervisor of the county with an office in the county seat or in Baltimore City, for the supervisor of Baltimore City. The Department is responsible for providing each supervisor with clerical staff, equipment, and other facilities and assistance that the Department considers necessary and as provided in the State budget. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, each county and Baltimore City shall be responsible for reimbursing the State for the costs of administering the Department as follows: 90% of the costs of real property valuation; 90% of the costs of business personal property valuation; and 90% of the costs of the Office of Information Technology within the Department, including any funding for departmental projects in the Major Information Technology Development Project Fund established under § 3.5–309 of the State Finance and Procurement Article. For each of fiscal years 2012 and 2013, each county and Baltimore City shall be responsible for reimbursing the State 90% instead of 50% of the costs of administering the Department described in paragraph (1) of this subsection. Costs under subsection (b) of this section shall be allocated among the counties and Baltimore City as follows: costs under subsection (b)(1)(i) and (iii) of this section will be allocated based on the number of real property accounts of a county or Baltimore City as a percentage of the total number of real property accounts statewide as of July 1 of the preceding fiscal year; and costs under subsection (b)(1)(ii) of this section will be allocated based on the business personal property assessable base of a county or Baltimore City as a percentage of the total business personal property assessable bases statewide as of July 1 of the preceding fiscal year. Each county and Baltimore City shall remit a quarterly payment to the Comptroller for 25% of the jurisdiction’s share of costs on the following dates: July 1; October 1; January 1; and April 1. The Comptroller may withhold a portion of a local income tax distribution of a county or Baltimore City that fails to make timely payment in accordance with this section.

The Department shall employ professional assessors including competent and experienced persons as assessors of commercial or industrial property, as provided in the State budget, and may assign the assessors to the supervisors as necessary to enable the supervisors to carry out their responsibilities under this title.

Before taking office, each assessor shall take the oath required by Article I, § 9 of the Maryland Constitution. The assessor shall take the oath before the clerk or a deputy clerk of the circuit court for the county: in which the assessor resides; or that is designated by the Director.

The Secretary of Budget and Management, after consultation with the Department, shall: set schedules of classifications and salaries for all employees of the Department in accordance with the provisions of Division I of the State Personnel and Pensions Article; and set minimum education or experience qualifications for: all supervisors; all assessor classifications; and all clerical classifications in the Department.

The salary schedules set for assessors under § 2-109 of this subtitle shall provide an appropriate incentive to encourage assessors to achieve the designation of certified assessment evaluator. A county may not provide a salary supplement or any other fringe benefit for an assessor.

The Director, after consultation with the Secretary of Budget and Management, may adopt a regulation that permits the substitution of building trades or real estate experience for any educational qualifications that are set for assessors under § 2-109 of this subtitle.

In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. “Homeowner” has the meaning stated in § 9–105 of this article. “Tax” has the meaning stated in § 14–801 of this article. There is a State Tax Sale Ombudsman in the Department. The Ombudsman: shall be appointed by the Director; shall be in the management service of the State Personnel Management System; and may be removed from office only after a hearing before the Department and a finding of incompetency or other good cause. The Ombudsman shall: assist homeowners to understand the process for collection of delinquent taxes; actively assist homeowners to apply for tax credits, discount programs, and other public benefits that may assist the homeowners to pay delinquent taxes and improve their financial situation; refer homeowners to legal services, housing counseling, and other social services that may assist homeowners to pay delinquent taxes and improve their financial situation; maintain a website that functions as a clearinghouse for information concerning: the process for collection of delinquent taxes; and services and programs that are available to assist homeowners to pay delinquent taxes and improve their financial situation; maintain a toll–free telephone number that a homeowner may call to obtain individualized personal assistance with delinquent taxes; and develop a process to allow a homeowner to designate a family member or another representative of the homeowner to communicate and work with the Ombudsman on the homeowner’s behalf. A county may, by law, establish a County Tax Sale Ombudsman to fulfill all the responsibilities of the State Tax Sale Ombudsman under subsection (d) of this section with respect to homeowners within the county. The Ombudsman shall contract with a vendor to operate an installment payment program for the payment of taxes in which any homeowner may enroll. The installment payment program shall allow a homeowner to: make advance payments of taxes; make payments of taxes currently due; or make payments of taxes in arrears. A homeowner whose dwelling is subject to a deed of trust, a mortgage, or any other encumbrance that includes the escrowing of tax payments may not enroll in the installment payment program for the advance payment of taxes. An advance payment of taxes is calculated by applying the current property tax rate to the assessment of the homeowner’s property for the prior year. If the advance payment is different than the taxes due as finally determined, the vendor shall: bill the homeowner for the unpaid balance; or refund any excess tax paid. The failure by a homeowner to make an advance payment under the installment payment program may not be considered to be a failure to pay the property tax when due except as provided under Title 10, Subtitle 1 of this article. The Ombudsman shall notify the collector to whom the taxes are owed when a homeowner enters into an installment payment plan under this subsection. If a homeowner is in compliance with the terms of an installment payment plan, the collector may not take action under Title 14, Subtitle 8 of this article to collect any property taxes in arrears that are included in the installment payment plan. A homeowner is not in compliance with the terms of an installment payment plan if the homeowner fails to make a payment for a period of 90 days after the date the payment is due, or a longer period determined by the Ombudsman. If a homeowner is not in compliance with the terms of an installment payment plan: the Ombudsman: may terminate the installment payment plan; and shall notify the collector to whom the taxes are owed; and the collector may take action under Title 14, Subtitle 8 of this article to collect any property taxes in arrears that were included in the installment payment plan. The cost of the contract with the vendor to operate the installment payment program shall be paid entirely by reasonable fees imposed on homeowners enrolled in the program.