Assessments director replaced amid agency mishap

Two months after state officials failed to notify more than 100,000 property owners in Maryland about their latest reassessments, the head of the agency in charge of assessments has been replaced.

Gov. Wes Moore’s office Thursday announced Daniel K. Phillips will serve as the interim director of the State Department of Assessments and Taxation while a search begins for a new director.

The Democratic governor’s statement did not mention Michael Higgs, the director since 2016, but a spokesperson confirmed he was no longer in the role.

The spokesperson declined to comment further on the departure because it’s a personnel matter.

One-third of Maryland’s 2 million property accounts were reassessed at the end of 2023. For the second year in a row, there were steep climbs — a 23.4% average increase on residential and commercial properties.

But the state agency, known as SDAT, claimed an error with a vendor resulted in roughly 100,000 notices not being sent by Jan. 30, a deadline required by law. Officials said when they realized the mistake they were working to address the issue and that property owners would still have the regular 45 days to appeal once they received their reassessment notice.

State lawmakers said they were deeply concerned by the error, which could put at risk millions in property tax collections for counties.

A bill introduced to retroactively extend the deadline is being considered in the Maryland General Assembly. Independent legislative analysts estimate counties stand to lose $30.1 million local property tax collections in the 2025 fiscal year and $180.6 million over a three-year period.

At least one top leader also suggested the fault should be with Higgs, who made a salary of $178,000 in 2023. Higgs could not be immediately reached for comment.

“It’s easy to blame a contractor. That’s something that I think [people say] a lot of times when somebody makes a mistake — they want to find the person to blame,” Senate President Bill Ferguson said in late February. “That looks like what’s happening here to me. If you’re the head of an agency, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the responsibilities of that agency are executed effectively.”

Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, said he did not want to “prejudge the situation” but emphasized the need for accountability “if it’s clear that there was negligence.”