Chesapeake Beach, MD: Property Tax Guide
Chesapeake Beach is a real, incorporated town in Calvert County, Maryland, at the mouth of Fishing Creek on the Chesapeake Bay. Because it is an incorporated town rather than an unincorporated stretch of the county, a property owner here very likely owes real property tax to two separate governments layered on top of each other: Calvert County and the Town of Chesapeake Beach itself. This page explains that general two-layer structure and how Maryland assesses real property for tax purposes, without inventing a specific current rate, assessed value, or sample tax bill for Chesapeake Beach -- those figures need to come from the Calvert County Department of Finance and Budget and the Town of Chesapeake Beach directly.
How Maryland Property Tax Works: State Assessment, Local Rates
Maryland is somewhat unusual among states in that a single state agency, the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, values real property statewide, rather than each county running its own separate assessing office. That state-set assessed value then gets taxed by whatever local governments have jurisdiction over a given parcel, each setting its own rate expressed as a dollar amount per $100 of assessed value. Multiply the assessed value by a jurisdiction's rate and divide by 100, and you get the annual bill owed to that layer of government.
Maryland's statewide assessment cycle reassesses each property once every three years, with roughly a third of parcels in any given county reassessed each year on a rotating schedule, and any increase in assessed value phased in gradually over the following three years rather than applied all at once. A property owner who believes an assessment is inaccurate can appeal, first to the local assessment office, then to the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board for the county, and from there to the Maryland Tax Court if still unresolved. The specific current assessment cycle timing and appeal deadlines for a given Chesapeake Beach parcel should be confirmed directly with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation's Calvert County office.
Two Layers on the Same Assessment: Calvert County and the Town
As an incorporated town with its own charter, its own town council, and its own municipal budget, Chesapeake Beach very likely sets and levies its own town-level real property tax rate in addition to whatever rate Calvert County sets for the county as a whole. In practice, that generally means a property owner inside the town limits owes both layers on the same state-assessed value: a county rate that funds county government and county schools, and a separate town rate that funds town-level services such as police, public works, and the town's own facilities.
This page deliberately does not state what either rate currently is, how the two compare to each other, or what a combined bill would look like for a given assessed value, because no current, primary-source rate for either layer was confirmed in the research behind this page. The two-layer structure itself is a genuine, useful thing for a buyer to understand going in; the actual numbers belong to the Calvert County Department of Finance and Budget and the Town of Chesapeake Beach's own town hall, and either or both should be contacted directly before budgeting a purchase around a specific figure.
Context Worth Knowing: A Town Shaped by a Real Boom-and-Bust Past
Chesapeake Beach's assessed values today sit on top of a genuinely unusual history worth understanding, even without a specific current tax figure. The town was built around the Washington & Chesapeake Beach Railway, organized in 1891 by Baltimore lawyer Edwin Warfield and later taken over by Colorado railroad builder Otto Mears, which opened an elaborate resort in 1900 featuring hotels, a 1,600-foot boardwalk, a racetrack, and a roller coaster, and which earned the town the nickname “Little Nevada” for offering slot machines to visitors. Ridership peaked at 352,000 passengers in 1921, but the venture never serviced its original $1 million mortgage, the Belvedere Hotel burned down in 1923, a 1933 hurricane caused further damage, and the last train ran in 1935.
The town's gaming history is not entirely in the past: a 2001 court ruling and a subsequent statewide restriction on gaming machines left Calvert County, including Chesapeake Beach, grandfathered for the kind of electronic gaming still operating today at venues such as the Rod 'N' Reel Resort -- distinct from Maryland's six full commercial casinos. Voters have twice rejected ballot measures to expand that gaming, most recently on November 7, 2024, by roughly 76 percent. None of this history translates into a specific dollar figure for today's assessed values or tax bills, but it is useful context for why the town looks and is governed the way it is.
What This Page Does Not State, and Why
This page does not state a current Calvert County real property tax rate, a current Town of Chesapeake Beach tax rate, an assessed value for any property, or a sample tax bill in dollars, because none of those figures were confirmed against a primary county or town source in the research behind this page. It also does not state any population figure beyond Chesapeake Beach's confirmed 2020 census count of 6,356 residents, and it does not speculate about future rate changes in either layer of government or about specific flood zone designations for individual parcels, which should instead be confirmed with FEMA's Flood Map Service Center.
Before budgeting a purchase in Chesapeake Beach around a specific tax figure, confirm the current county rate and any applicable assessment with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation and the Calvert County Department of Finance and Budget, confirm the current town rate with the Town of Chesapeake Beach directly, and ask both offices how the two rates combine for a specific parcel. A local real estate agent or title company working in Calvert County can also pull the actual current combined bill for a specific address.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data sourced from: Wikipedia's entries on Chesapeake Beach, Maryland and the Chesapeake Beach Railway (incorporation and location in Calvert County at the mouth of Fishing Creek on the Chesapeake Bay, 2020 census population of 6,356, the 1891-1935 railway and resort history, the 352,000-passenger 1921 ridership peak, the 1923 Belvedere Hotel fire, and the 1933 hurricane damage); the Town of Chesapeake Beach's own official history page; rnrresortmd.com's own gaming page and casino.org's reporting on the November 7, 2024 gaming referendum (roughly 76 percent opposed) and the 2001 court ruling grandfathering local electronic gaming. General Maryland property tax mechanics (statewide assessment by the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, the three-year assessment cycle, and the local appeals process) reflect Maryland's publicly documented statewide system. Honest gaps disclosed rather than filled with invented figures: no current Calvert County real property tax rate, no current Town of Chesapeake Beach town-level tax rate, no assessed-value figures, and no sample tax bill were confirmed via a primary county or town source in the research behind this page. Property tax rates and assessments are set and reviewed periodically by the state, the county, and the town, and can change from year to year. Before making any purchase or budgeting a tax bill, confirm current figures directly with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, the Calvert County Department of Finance and Budget, the Town of Chesapeake Beach, or a licensed Maryland tax professional. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.