Commissioners would like to see a permanent solution to the school's proble, which is that the school is paying property tax despite a state law exempting school buildings.

Commissioners and Board of Education members discussed solutions at a joint meeting Tuesday.

The charter school leases the former church building it occupies on Dill Street in downtown Frederick .

School founders signed a contract agreeing to pay the taxes, believing they would be eligible for a tax waiver.

State law stipulates that no property taxes be levied on buildings used for education, commissioners said.

Commissioner David Gray discussed having Frederick County Public Schools provide space for the charter school, or purchasing in its name a building for the same purpose.

Gray told school board members that charter school advocates told him the school board had said they could not buy a building.

That isn't quite true, schools Superintendent Linda Burgee said.

State law prohibits a private entity such as Monocacy Montessori Communities Inc., the corporate parent of the charter school, from buying a building using its tax-dollar provided, per-pupil allocation. The group could buy a building using private money, Burgee said after the meeting.

Burgee told commissioners that state law doesn't require local school systems to provide facilities for charter schools.

Of the Maryland jurisdictions with charter schools, only Baltimore city provides space, charging a per-square-foot rate. Baltimore can provide the space because of an abundance of surplus property, Burgee said.

Forcing school systems to provide space for charter schools would place an undue burden on local systems, Burgee said.

Commissioners and school board members discussed several scenarios, such as allowing the charter school to use space that will be vacated when the new central office building opens next summer.

Board member Michael Schaden said the school system is abandoning those buildings because of the renovations they need.

It would be too expensive to make any of the buildings suitable for a school.

The board had intended to use money from selling the surplus buildings to pay down debt on the new building, Schaden said.

It wouldn't be fair to Monocacy Montessori to offer the space and ask them to move when the building sells, he said.

The bottom line, school board members said, is that the charter school knowingly entered into a contractual agreement to pay taxes.

School board Vice President Bonnie Borsa said running a charter school is expensive.

"Legally, we don't have to provide a facility, and we entered into a contract stating we weren't responsible for providing a facility," she said.

Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. agreed and said the decision to waive the tax wasn't unanimous. The charter school is a private entity governed by its own policies, he said.

"They entered into this agreement," he said. "It's a business decision that was made."

After the meeting, Kim Standing, president of the charter school's board of trustees, explained how the charter school became responsible for the taxes.

"In any commercial contract, property taxes are embedded in the rent," she said. "So we broke those out, because the law says a building dedicated to education is tax-exempt."

School founders thought there wouldn't be a problem receiving a tax waiver, but it proved more difficult than the group anticipated.

Monocacy Montessori has received some help some years and paid the taxes other years.

Liability this year is significantly higher, Standing said.

In the first four years of the contract, the school was responsible for 25 percent of property taxes.

This year, and for the remainder of the agreement, the group is obligated for 75 percent of the bill.

"Is it appropriate to have us pay taxes to the entity that gave us the money in the first place?" she said.

"The taxes on that property are about $30,000 -- that's a staff member to us."

Burgee said she and her staff would continue working with the school.

Commissioners said they would consider legislative help to address the problem.

Post your comments » Round 2: Snow expected to fall today, Wednesday Fast on the heels of the largest 24-hour snowfall to hit the Frederick County since 1983, meteorologists are predicting another round of heavy snow and wind to hit today. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning Monday afternoon for the area, including Frederick County, and said 10 to 20 inches of snow is possible by Wednesday night. Weather-related closings, delays A list follows of weather-related closings and cancellations for this week. Fire and police blotter Police search for robber School closures cause makeup schedule revision Even though Frederick County Public Schools are closed today -- using the sixth snow day this school year -- the school system will not hold school on the Monday Presidents Day holiday as the first scheduled snow makeup day. Crowds pay respect to fallen marine Even U.S. Marines couldn't hold back tears Monday at the viewing of their colleague, Sgt. David Smith. The procession to the Frederick Christian Fellowship Church was led by Frederick County Sheriff's deputies. Dressed in full military regalia, Marines carried Smith's casket into the church followed by family members as more Marines stood at attention.