New proactive valuation strategy updates over 11,500 property records, ensuring equitable taxation and lifting the burden on local homeowners.
— The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) has successfully implemented a modernized strategy to prioritize vacant land within its standard property reassessment cycle, yielding significantly more accurate property valuations. Launched in July 2025, SDAT’s new Vacant Land Valuation Initiative ensures that vacant land assessments in Baltimore City more accurately reflect current real estate market conditions.
The initiative debuted during the Group 2 Reassessment Cycle, prioritizing identifying and evaluating unimproved parcels (land with no dwellings). Completed in late 2025 and effective Jan. 1, 2026, the new proactive strategy leverages SDAT’s database valuation system, real-time data from the Baltimore City Transfer Office and analysis of existing assessed land values against recent neighborhood sales. In areas with limited sales data, assessors utilize an improved-land-value-to-total-market-value ratio to determine an accurate baseline.
Comparison of Vacant Land Valuations (Prior vs. Current)
Group 2 Reassessment Cycle…