OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
MAY 12, 2023
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
FESTIVAL
SPRINGFEST SUCCESS Annual four-day event ended on high note, now OC organizers plan for next year - Page 7
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County rejects school board’s budget Spending bump meant for wages, but commissioners cite lack of transparency By Jack Chavez Staff Writer (May 12, 2023) The Worcester County Board of Education will have to meet with teachers, bus drivers and other personnel to figure out what they must do without for the next year after the county commissioners voted 4 to 2 on Tuesday to
give the school system none of the additional money it had requested for the year ahead. Instead of granting the board’s request that the county up its funding by about $4.5 million, or approximately 4.78 percent to help cover salary increases for school employees and contractors, the commissioners gave it a flat budget. “We’re very disappointed,” said board President Todd Ferrante. “We have a $4.5 million shortfall in our budget … They did fund the county
employees (raises). They didn’t fund the teachers but they funded the county employees so I’m not sure for what reason. We have tried, we have worked with (Worcester County Chief Administrative Officer) Weston (Young) to try to give them as much information as requested.” “It’s devastating to some of our employees who are looking to make ends meet and we are all suffering higher costs in this environment.” Commissioners Joe Mitrecic and Diana Purnell voted in opposition.
Commissioner Ted Elder was absent while attending the funeral of his wife, Joyce. Per state law, counties and Baltimore City must fund their school systems with at least what was provided in the prior fiscal year, a practice known as maintenance of effort (MOE). The 1984 law was designed to prevent jurisdictions from looking at cutting school spending as a way to save money. Tuesday’s meeting — a special See CITING Page 3
Margaritaville can’t buy city right-of-way Council votes 4-3 against request to purchase strip
HUNTER HINE/OCEAN CITY TODAY
SPRINGFEST Crowds mill around Springfest grounds Saturday, adding to what event organizers says was one of the better editions of the annual celebration. Story on page 7.
Celeb Ce e rate r Motheer’s Day
May 14th 4-9pm m 3 Course Meal $40
By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (May 12, 2023) Even with plans showing a reduction in height and square footage, a proposed downtown Margaritaville resort continues to waste away after another setback this week. At a work session Tuesday, Ocean City Council members narrowly denied a request from local attorney Hugh Cropper to set a public hearing to buy a portion of right-of-way the developers want for a 257-room, 12story hotel and conference center at the former Phillips Beach Plaza property between 13th and 14th streets. Cropper, who has represented the developers since introduction of the project nearly two years ago, said the request was one of “literally 100” steps still needed to advance the plans. “I am here today to request that you abandon and sell, at fair market See REQUEST Page 4
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Ocean City Today
MAY 12, 2023
MAY 12, 2023
Citing lack of transparency, county nixes school budget Continued from Page 1 budget work session as the county continues to trim the excess off its $11 million structural deficit — focused largely on a “lack of transparency” that four of the commissioners felt the board had failed to address satisfactorily. “We’ve given the board of education months to give us the information requested,” said Commissioner Caryn Abbott. “This is not against education, far from it … (This is) not to say (teachers) shouldn’t get their raises. Yes, they should. But it’s incumbent upon the board of education to do that because they have been given ample opportunity to be transparent with us and they’ve not been. And the bus drivers as well. They all deserve it and now it’s up to them to fund the teachers and the bus drivers for the raises.” Commissioner President Chip Bertino previously criticized the lack of transparency in the board’s budget, especially as it compared to the thorough spreadsheets provided by other county departments — albeit worth noting that the school board is an independent body of elected officials and is not a county division run by county employees. Bertino also claimed that he learned this year that not even the board of education sees a detailed budget and that it gets the same summary the commissioners get. When asked about Bertino’s comment, Ferrante said he wasn’t sure how he arrived at that conclusion. “I’m not so sure what detail Bertino is addressing but if we want to know any details about our
budget, we will certainly get that answer from Mr. Tolbert. We are willing to dive in. (What is requested) might be something that’s not readily available to print out, but certainly we will provide them with information.” The next step for the board will be making the painful decision of where to take the money out of the budget ... if it can. There was no answer at the moment, Ferrante said, but still addressing employee and contractor compensation was not necessarily off the table. “We’ll have to discuss this with our teachers and support staff,” he said. “You have a negotiated budget. It has to be discussed back with them to see what we’re able to do. I can’t give specific details at this time but you have to look into what programs and services you can cut to support your staff and employees.” Bertino, Abbott and Commissioners Jim Bunting and Eric Fiori presented an insurmountable obstacle, but both Mitrecic and Purnell minced no words in conveying how adamantly they opposed their colleagues’ decision. “I think this is the wrong message to send to our educators,” Mitrecic said. “I think there’s gotta be some sort of possible meeting point and I just can’t support this. I think our youth are the future of this county and I can’t support it.” Mitrecic acknowledged the hardship of a state school funding formula that leaves Worcester County funding its school system around 80 percent, much higher than other disSee COMMISSIONERS Page 6
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