A buyer touring Chevy Chase for the first time will eventually stand on one block, compare two brick colonials a few doors apart, and ask a version of the same question: why does this one show a different tax line than that one, when the houses, the trees, and the zip code look identical. The honest answer is that "Chevy Chase, Maryland" is not a single municipality. It is a cluster of separately chartered local governments stacked inside one mailing address, and which government owns a given parcel changes the tax bill, the police coverage, and even who clears the snow off the sidewalk.
One Zip Code, Eight Charters
Montgomery County collects property tax on behalf of twenty-two municipalities, and a striking share of them sit inside or beside the Chevy Chase zip code: Chevy Chase Village, the Town of Chevy Chase, Section 3 of the Village of Chevy Chase, Section 5 of the Village of Chevy Chase, the Village of Martin's Additions, North Chevy Chase, Chevy Chase View, and Drummond, according to the county's own tax FAQ page. The neighboring Town of Somerset, though not officially part of Chevy Chase, borders it closely enough that people confuse the two constantly.
Each of these places has its own history. Chevy Chase Village became a special taxing area in 1914 and incorporated as a municipality in 1951, and today it covers under half a square mile with about 722 homes and roughly 1,950 residents, according to the Village's own government page. The Town of Chevy Chase is the largest of the group, with just over 1,000 households, and grew out of what used to be called Section 4 after it annexed Section 8 in 1976. Chevy Chase View incorporated later still, in 1993, and sits south of Kensington. North Chevy Chase is smaller and more residential, reported at roughly 200 single-family homes near the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Jones Bridge Road. Drummond is smaller yet, a special tax district covering two-thirds of a single street with about 43 homes, chartered all the way back in 1916. Friendship Heights rounds out the list as a special tax district built around apartments and offices rather than single-family homes, which is its own reminder that "Chevy Chase" covers more housing types than the postcard version suggests.
Large sections of the Chevy Chase zip code sit in none of these municipalities at all. They are unincorporated Montgomery County land, taxed at the county and state rate with no municipal layer on top, the same arrangement that applies to most of neighboring Bethesda.
| Municipality | Rough size | What sets it apart |
|---|---|---|
| Chevy Chase Village | ~722 homes, under half a square mile | Runs its own police department and Village Manager; tax rate set at an Annual Meeting each April |
| Town of Chevy Chase | Just over 1,000 households, the largest in the group | Formed from the old Section 4 after annexing Section 8 in 1976 |
| Section 3, Village of Chevy Chase | Small enclave | The only one of its neighbors offering a no-cost, needs-based sidewalk snow clearing benefit for Medicare-age residents |
| Section 5, Village of Chevy Chase | Small enclave | Tax rate is voted on directly by residents attending the Annual Meeting, not simply set by an elected board |
| Village of Martin's Additions | Mix of historic and newer homes | One of several sections without the age-based snow benefit |
| North Chevy Chase | Roughly 200 single-family homes | Smaller residential pocket near Jones Bridge Road |
| Chevy Chase View | Incorporated 1993 | Newest incorporation among the group |
| Unincorporated pockets | Varies | County and state tax only, no municipal add-on |
Why the Tax Line Moves Even When the House Doesn't
Every one of these governments sets its own municipal property tax rate independently, and that rate is layered on top of the same Montgomery County and Maryland state rate that applies everywhere else in the county. The county explains the mechanism plainly on its finance FAQ: this municipal tax is levied by each municipal area within the county and is used for things like street and sidewalk maintenance, trash removal, tree care, sanitation, and police protection. In other words, the rate difference is not administrative noise. It reflects a real difference in which government is paying for what.
Rates also move every year, which is exactly why quoting a single "Chevy Chase tax rate" is misleading. Chevy Chase Village adopted its FY2027 operating budget and set its real estate and personal property tax rates by ordinance on April 20, 2026, covering the fiscal year that runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Section 5 of the Village of Chevy Chase set its own FY2027 rate at its Annual Meeting on May 5, 2026, a meeting where residents in attendance cast the actual vote on the number, according to the section's own annual meeting packet. That is not a figure of speech. In Section 5, the property tax rate is a line item that gets voted on by whoever shows up.
There is a second mechanism that matters more to a buyer than the municipal rate itself, and it has nothing to do with which charter a house sits in. Maryland's Homestead Tax Credit caps how much of a year-over-year increase in assessed value can be taxed for an owner-occupied home, and Montgomery County has set that cap at 10 percent, according to the same county finance FAQ. The credit only applies to an owner-occupied principal residence, and it does not follow the property to a new owner automatically. That means a buyer's first tax bill on a newly purchased home in Chevy Chase, in any of its charters, can reflect a jump closer to the property's full reassessed value rather than the capped number the seller had been paying for years. Buyers comparing listing sheets are often comparing the seller's homestead-protected bill, not the bill they themselves will actually receive. The Maryland homeowners' property tax credit program page has the application details for anyone who wants to see the mechanics directly.
The Service Differences Are Not Cosmetic
The tax rate is the visible part. The service differences underneath it are what a homeowner actually notices in January.
Chevy Chase Village maintains its own police department, staffed separately from Montgomery County Police, a fact confirmed on the Village's own government page. None of the surrounding sections run their own force in the same way. In budget discussions ahead of its FY2026 cycle, Chevy Chase Village polled its neighboring municipalities on sidewalk snow clearing and found that the Town of Chevy Chase, Section 5, and Martin's Additions all provide the service in some form, but only Section 3 limits it based on age, covering Medicare-eligible residents at no direct additional cost to the enrolled properties. A homeowner two blocks away in a different section gets a different answer to the same question about who shows up after a snowstorm.
None of this shows up on a listing sheet. It shows up the first time a resident calls about a downed tree limb, a permit for a fence, or a plowed sidewalk, and discovers the answer depends on which charter their address falls under rather than on the zip code printed on their mail.
What This Means When You're Comparing Listings
A buyer weighing two Chevy Chase homes against each other is really weighing two separate small governments, each with its own budget, its own service menu, and its own annual vote on what residents pay for it. A few practical steps make that comparison honest:
- Look up the parcel on Maryland's SDAT Real Property Search before assuming a tax figure is representative. The record will show whether a municipal levy applies and which one.
- Ask directly which of the charters, if any, covers a specific address. "Chevy Chase" on a listing is a starting point, not an answer.
- Compare the current owner's tax bill to the estimated bill after a sale, since the Homestead Tax Credit reset can matter more than which section the house sits in.
- Ask what services come with the municipal tax in that particular charter: police coverage, snow removal, leaf collection, permit review. The rate and the service list are one package, not two separate decisions.
A Few Questions Worth Asking Directly
Is Somerset part of Chevy Chase? No. The Town of Somerset is its own separately chartered municipality bordering Chevy Chase, with its own mayor, town hall, and town pool. People associate the two because of proximity, not governance.
Does every home with a Chevy Chase mailing address pay a municipal tax? No. Large portions of the zip code are unincorporated Montgomery County land with no municipal layer at all, similar to most of Bethesda.
Who do I call if I'm not sure which municipality a specific house sits in? The county's parcel records will show it, and so will the municipality's own website, since most of them publish boundary maps. A buyer's agent working this market regularly should be able to confirm it before an offer goes in.
If you're comparing homes across Chevy Chase's patchwork of Village, Town, and numbered Sections and want to know exactly which charter a specific address falls under, what that means for the tax line, and what it means for the services that come with it, The Schuman Team can walk that comparison with you before you write an offer.
