OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
DECEMBER 2, 2016
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
LIFESTYLE
CHRISTMAS PARADE IN OC Annual procession to begin at 11 a.m. this Saturday, with route 100th to 120th streets – Page 41
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Yes, we have a winner Local ticket buyer hits all but one number in Powerball lottery
GREG ELLLISON/OCEAN CITY TODAY
SHOPPER’S FAIR Potential buyers cover the floor at the Ocean City convention center on 40th Street last Saturday during the 34th annual Holiday Shopper’s Fair. Approximately 7,500 people perused holiday gift offerings provided by more than 120 vendors.
Tax differential talks requested OC government officials ask for another sit-down session on their proposed tax break
By Katie Tabeling Staff Writer (Dec. 2, 2016) A new year may mean some progress with Ocean City’s property tax differential request, as the mayor and council are seeking a sitdown with Worcester County officials. At the end of Tuesday’s work session, Mayor Rick Meehan announced that the city had hand-delivered a letter that day to the county commissioners formally requesting appointments to discuss a potential lower tax rate for the resort. “In order to meet the Tax-Property Article of the Annotated Code of Mary-
land, we need to send a letter to the commissioners to discuss it for FY18. And we have to do that six months prior to them passing their budget,” Meehan said. For years, the City Council has sought a lower tax rate for resort property owners based on the argument that resort taxpayers pay for county services they don’t use because the city provides them. The council maintains that their taxpayers shouldn’t have to support those services and that county’s tax rate should be adjusted to reflect that. Ocean City paid $69.3 million of the county’s $182 million budget in property taxes in fiscal year 2016, according to Worcester County Public Information Officer Kim Moses. On average, 59 percent of the taxpayer’s bill goes to Worcester County. A study conducted by the Municipal
& Financial Services Group in 2007 and updated in 2013 concluded that there was approximately $17 million in duplicated services annually. Worcester County officials last winter commissioned their own tax study by consultants TischlerBise. In May, the firm reported that Ocean City is paying $7.7 million in duplicated services. In fiscal year 2015, the county set a tax rate at 77 cents per $100 assessed value. Hypothetically, if the county were to forgive that $7.7 million in a tax break, Ocean City residents would see their rate drop roughly 3 cents to 74 cents. But every cent taken off the resort’s bill has to be made up elsewhere. County residents would have to pay a nickel more in property taxes, raising their rate to 82 cents according to the FY15 rate. See COUNTY Page 3
By Katie Tabeling Staff Writer (Dec. 2, 2016) Someone in Ocean City is a million dollars richer this holiday season, after his Powerball ticket had five of the six winning numbers in the Nov. 23 drawing. The ticket, which hit on everything except the actual Powerball number, was sold at the 7-Eleven 120th Street and Coastal Highway, according to a news release from the Maryland Lottery. “Someone in Maryland will wake up feeling extra thankful today,” lottery officials said in a press release last Thursday. Although the winner has See BIG Page 3
Serial robbery suspect caught in Ocean City
By Kara Hallissey Staff Writer (Dec. 2, 2016) Suspected serial bank robber Charles Coleman, 34, of Pikesville, Maryland, was arrested in Ocean City last Wednesday on an outstanding warrant and was immediately transferred to federal authorities. According to Ocean See MAN Page 8