What does it cost to hold a Columbia home for a year? Most buyers answer by asking the seller for last year's bills. In Columbia, those bills may describe a cost the next owner will never pay.
The reason is that Columbia has two caps on how fast a home's charges can rise. One comes from the Columbia Association and one from the state of Maryland. Both protect long-time owners from fast-rising assessments, and both are tied to the owner rather than the house. When the deed transfers, both stop applying for the buyer. The longer a seller has owned the home and the faster values rose while they owned it, the further their bills will fall below a new owner's first year.
Two caps, one rule about sales
Buying in Columbia means taking on two charges based on state assessments. One is the county property tax every Maryland homeowner pays. The other is the Columbia Association annual charge, which CA says your deed requires you to pay if the property is protected by CA covenants. Each charge has its own limit on yearly increases, and each limit has its own rule about what happens at a sale.
| Columbia Association annual charge | Maryland Homestead Property Tax Credit | |
|---|---|---|
| What it applies to | 68 cents per $100 of 50% of the state-assessed value | Taxable assessment on an owner's principal residence |
| Yearly cap | 3.5% | 5% in Howard County for tax year 2026–27 |
| What happens at a sale | Cap not applied in the first year after a purchase | Credit requires that the property was not transferred to new ownership in the previous tax year |
| Who sets it | CA Board of Directors | State law, with the local cap set by the county |
The Columbia Association states its rule in its annual charge FAQ: "The cap is not applied to property the first year following a purchase. Instead, the state's phase-in value is used that year to calculate the annual charge, and that value may be higher than the previous owner's last value."
The state's rule appears on the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation's Homestead Credit page. It lists the conditions for the credit, and the first is that "the property was not transferred to new ownership." The two rules come from different bodies and are written differently, but they lead to the same result for a buyer.
What the reset looks like in dollars
The Columbia Association's own example shows how it works. Suppose a home's state assessment rises from $400,000 to $440,000, a 10% increase. CA charges on half the assessment, so the uncapped base would go from $200,000 to $220,000. The 3.5% cap holds it to $207,000. That makes the charge $1,408 for the year instead of $1,496.
That $88 difference covers one year of growth. CA also says "it still takes quite a few years to catch up to a significant increase in your property value," and that capped value can't rise faster than the cap unless the property is substantially improved or changes owners. An owner who has held a home through several reassessments may have a CA bill based on a value well below the state's current phase-in figure. A buyer's first-year bill is based on the phase-in figure.
The Homestead Credit works the same way on a larger bill. SDAT's example uses an old assessment of $100,000 and a new phased-in assessment of $120,000. The credit applies to taxes on the $10,000 above the 10% state limit. Howard County sets a tighter 5% cap for local taxes, and SDAT's 2026–27 tax rate and Homestead cap table shows the county kept the cap at 5% for both 2025–26 and 2026–27. The tighter the cap, the further a long-time owner's taxable assessment can fall below market value. That widens the gap the next owner sees.
Why recent reassessments make the gap bigger
Maryland reassesses property in three groups on a three-year cycle. Increases are phased in equally over three years. The caps limit how much of each increase a long-time owner actually pays for. The recent increases in Howard County have been large.
SDAT released the most recent cycle on December 30, 2025. It found that residential values in Howard County's Group 2 rose 16.8% between the January 1, 2023 and January 1, 2026 valuations. In the cycle before that, the county's Group 1 values for residential and commercial property combined rose 19.5% in the January 1, 2025 reassessment. CA's FAQ notes that state reassessments in Columbia have at times risen 45 to 50%.
When values rise faster than 3.5% a year for CA, or 5% a year for county taxes, each year of ownership adds to the gap between the owner's capped bill and the uncapped value behind it. A seller who bought ten years ago and one who bought two years ago can live on the same street and pay very different amounts. A buyer of either home starts from the state's phase-in value, not from either seller's capped one.
The next round is close. SDAT's Howard County reassessment schedule lists Area 3's next reassessment as January 1, 2027. Area 1 follows on January 1, 2028. Buyers comparing Columbia homes this winter can look up any address in SDAT's Real Property database to see its area and its current values.
A low cap is a board choice, and the board just made it again
CA's 3.5% cap is not set by law. State law allows charges based on property assessments to rise as much as 10% a year, and CA's governing documents allow a rate as high as 75 cents per $100. The 68-cent rate has not changed since 2004.
At its December 11, 2025 meeting, the CA Board approved keeping the 68-cent rate and the 3.5% cap for fiscal year 2027 by a 6–3 vote, on a motion from Chair Collin Sullivan seconded by Ashley Vaughan. Two other motions failed 3–6. One, from board members Eric Greenberg and Karin Emery, would have cut the rate to 62 cents. The other, from Greenberg and seconded by Reg Avery, would have lowered the cap to 2.5%. Kevin Bruening spoke on the rate and cap during resident speakout on behalf of the River Hill Community Association. The approved minutes record the full vote.
The fiscal year 2027 budget covers May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027. Its transmittal letter says the rate and cap were kept in light of national economic uncertainty, the state's budget deficit, and signs that inflation was not under control. Annual-charge revenue is budgeted at $52.049 million, about 57% of CA's $91.197 million in total revenue, and is projected to grow 2.9% over fiscal 2026. The Baltimore Banner described the charge in April 2026 as funding CA's $91 million budget, and connected it to residents' stake in the village and CA board elections.
With revenue held to slow growth and a cap well under the legal limit, long-time owners keep paying on values that rise slowly. New owners make up part of that difference in their first year.
Where the charge shows up during a purchase
The annual charge is attached to the property itself, and the documents show it:
- The deed. CA's recorded deed makes each lot subject to an annual-charge lien. It also lets a buyer request a written certificate showing whether charges are paid or how much is due. That certificate is binding between CA and a bona fide purchaser or lender.
- The Howard County addendum. The Howard County Association of REALTORS' Form 1201 addendum includes a buyer notice about Columbia Association fees. It also has a seller checkbox for whether the property is subject to mandatory CA fees, with the fee stated as of a given month and year and subject to reassessment. That last phrase is a reminder that the figure on the form is the seller's figure.
- The Homestead application. SDAT mails new owners a Homestead application once the deed is recorded and its records are updated. It is a one-time application for as long as the owner lives in that home. To qualify, the home must be the owner's principal residence, and the owner must live there at least six months of the year, including July 1.
- The CA invoice. CA bills from July 1 through June 30 and mails invoices by July 1. CA says its ownership records can lag behind deed recording, and that some lenders escrow the charge but not all do.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before relying on any figure for a specific property, confirm it with SDAT, the Columbia Association, your settlement attorney or title company, and your tax professional.
Quick answers
Does every Columbia home pay the annual charge? CA says the charge applies to property protected by CA covenants, as required by the deed. The certificate described in the deed is the way to confirm the status of a specific property.
What does CA's own example look like at today's rate? On a home the state assesses at $400,000, CA charges on $200,000, for an annual charge of $1,360.
Does the cap come back after the first year? CA's FAQ describes the first-year rule as the exception, stating that the cap is not applied in the first year after a purchase. CA can confirm how the cap applies to a specific account after that.
If you're considering a home in Columbia, our team at Rosewood Home Group will pull its state assessment and CA status before you write an offer, so you can budget from the numbers you'll actually pay. Owners in Columbia who are thinking about selling can start with a complimentary home valuation. It's the first step in showing buyers the full cost picture with confidence.
