Board of Supervisors of Elections v. Smallwood

The issue decided by the trial courts in the instant case was whether the proposed cap amendments violate Article *251XI-A of the Maryland Constitution. The courts below answered that question in the affirmative, and this Court reverses that determination. I concur in Parts I through III of the Court’s opinion.

In Part IV, the majority coins the pejorative phrases— “roll backs” and “escape clauses”—and decides that roll backs as well as escape clauses violate a section of the Tax-Property Article and are therefore void. The majority goes on to rewrite the amendments petitioned for by over 20,000…