OC Today-Dispatch MAY 9, 2025
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PRICELESS
Local promoter given opportunity to stage Bikefest Providing details can be worked out, Kickin Events gets City Council’s blessing to do its best ... with the council leaving room to back out next year if “best” isn’t good enough. — Page 16
Big beach canopies could see new regs The increasing number of canopies planted on the beach has drawn the attention of the mayor and City Council, who say the ones with sides on them are becoming a real problem.— Page 22
PHOTO COURTESY ASHLEY MILLER/OCEAN CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
SWORN IN News Ocean City Police Chief Ray Austin is sworn in as the resort’s top law enforcement officer. Austin’s leadership role was preceded by 31 years with the department where he began. See story on page 79.
Tensions run high in Snow Hill ....PAGE 14 School budget backers heard ...... PAGE 76 Decatur teams win Bayside..........PAGE 90
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OC Today-Dispatch
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MAY 9, 2025
MAY 9, 2025
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OC Today-Dispatch
OC’s property tax rate to see no change in spending plan Proposed FY26 budget to be considered again this month at second reading By Stewart Dobson Editor (May 9, 2025) Ocean City government’s proposed $181.8 million FY26 budget sailed smoothly through its first hearing Monday night, with the City Council offering no comment as it accepted the document as established during budgeting sessions in March and April. The council also agreed unanimously to leave the property tax rate of 44.26 cents per hundred dollars of assessed value unchanged for the year ahead. By allowing that levy to stand, the council acknowledged that it would deliver almost $8.4 million more in revenue than was budgeted for FY25 as new and improved properties boosted the city’s tax base. According to calculations by the state tax office, this increase in the total value of resort real estate would have allowed the city to drop its tax rate to just under 40 cents per hundred dollars of assessed value. But given increases in spending, particularly in the public safety category, and losses incurred by the absence of Boardwalk tram service this year, the council concurred with staff recommendations to maintain the tax rate status quo. The city’s actual operating budget, the General Fund, is $119.9 million for the year ahead under the proposal. The difference between that and the total fiscal package for FY26 is contained in “Enterprise Funds.” These are standalone accounts for operations that are run like businesses — Water, Wastewater, Transportation and Convention Center among others — and are supposed to be self-sustaining through fees paid by consumers and are not directly affected by the tax rate. But then, neither is the $56.4 million in revenue produced by the tax rate anywhere near enough to cover the city’s daily operations. The General Fund’s largest expense — and where the greatest increase in FY26 spending resides — is the Public Safety category, which includes the police department, career firefighters/EMS, the Beach Patrol and emergency preparedness. Altogether, the public safety budget of $51 million, which is $2 million more than the FY25 budget, represents about 90% of Ocean City’s total real property tax revenue, although funding for the division comes from other sources as well.
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That number also assumes that the city’s last best offer on police pay and benefits will remain unchanged as it goes through arbitration with the local Fraternal Order of Police chapter, which is asking for a significantly better package. As it stands, the police department is budgeted for $28.2 million, up roughly $1.8 million from the current year’s budget of $26.4 million. Of that, slightly more than $1 million would go for the additional pay and benefits offered by city. Whether that will be enough, however, will not be known until the end of the month — just days before the council is required to adopt the budget — when an arbitrator will choose between the city’s proposal or the FOP’s demand. Should the arbitrator side with the FOP, the budget would have to be adjusted to reflect payroll changes for the entire department, not just the rank-and-file members of the FOP. Only officers of the rank of sergeant and below are represented by the FOP, while pay for lieutenants and up nevertheless depends on maintaining the gap between their compensation and that of subordinate personnel. See TRAM Page 6
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