OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
MARCH 5, 2021
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
FINANCIAL
REAL ESTATE TAXES
Ocean City sees decline in its total assessable base and increase in constant yield rate – Page 6
FREE
Travel tax credit bills in hearings Business reps give testimony backing delegations’ efforts to boost tourism By Ally Lanasa Staff Writer (March 5, 2021) As the 2021 legislative session reached its halfway point last week, local lawmakers testified in support of a tourism tax credit bill. Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-38) Susan Jones co-sponsored the bill, SB 730, and gave it her strong endorsement last Wednesday before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. Cross-filed with Del. Wayne Hartman’s (R-38 C) House Bill 1176, the legislation provides state income tax credits to Marylanders who travel within the state and spend money on hospitality-related purchases. “The pandemic has had a devastating impact on our economy, especially the tourism sector. According to the U.S. Travel Asso- Lachelle Scarlato ciation, 15.8 million travel-related jobs in the U.S. have been lost due to the pandemic. This has resulted is an industry unemployment rate of 51 percent which is more than twice the rate our country experienced as a whole during the See DELEGATION Page 2
Quick cure for eyesore
Eagle flies again after truck crash
Derelict building no longer greets bridge travelers as they arrive in downtown OC By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (March 5, 2021) Crews from Absolute Demolition began tearing down a 91-year-old building on N. Division Street in downtown Ocean City last Thursday, after attempts to redevelop the eyesore resulted in failure. Located at 206 N Division Street, the Bridgeview Apartments were next to Route 50 and were oftentimes the first building people saw when they drove into Ocean City. As part of its effort to revitalize and clean up
run-down buildings across town, the Ocean City Development Corporation — or OCDC — offered the owner of the building, Gerardo Mendez, $10,000 to demolish the multi-unit apartment building and he accepted. “Through a program called ‘Development Assistance,’ we offered the owner $10,000 to take down the building immediately,” OCDC Executive Director Glenn Irwin said this week. “From our side, we were concerned the building would remain for another summer...in a deplorable See DEMOLITION Page 4
After weeks of rest, she’s released to wherever wings and wind take her By Ally Lanasa Staff Writer (March 5, 2021) The adult female bald eagle that flew through the windshield of a Perdue Farms tractor-trailer on Route 113 near Langmaid Road in Newark on Feb. 12 has returned to the wild after two weeks of rehabilitation treatment at Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research Inc. in Newark, Delaware. Not only did the bald eagle survive the collision with See INJURED Page 3