OCEAN CITY – Resort officials last week voted to adopt the fiscal year 2024 operating budget with a tax rate set above the constant yield.
Last week, the Mayor and Council had before them a second reading of the fiscal year 2024 operating budget. The town’s spending plan, which totals $155,155,151, includes a general fund budget of $105,073,940 and a tax rate set at $0.4526 per $100 of assessed value.
“This is to adopt the fiscal year 2024 proposed operating budget,” City Solicitor Heather Stansbury said.
In March, City Manager Terry McGean and Budget Manager Jennie Knapp presented the Mayor and Council with the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget. And over the course of two weeks, city officials held a series of budget work sessions to discuss topics such as emergency services and public safety requests, room tax, advertising and more.
The budget approved on second reading last week features a tax rate of $0.4526 per $100 of assessed value, which is the same as the current fiscal year tax rate. Because the rate is higher than the constant yield rate – or the rate needed to provide the same level of revenue as the prior year – the town expects to generate real property tax revenues of $43,219,002, which funds 41% of the general fund budget.
The budget also features $3.4 million in capital projects for the coming fiscal year. The spending plan allots $1.8 million for street paving, $1.5 million for the capital maintenance fund and $100,000 for Boardwalk redecking.
Projects approved as “pay-as-you-go” in the capital maintenance fund include $1.1 million for street paving, $200,000 for canal dredging, $100,000 for storm drain cleaning, $100,000 for Ocean Bowl Skate Park repairs and $80,000 for City Watch surveillance cameras.
With no further discussion last week, a motion made by Council Secretary Tony DeLuca and seconded by Councilman Peter Buas to approve the fiscal year 2024 budget on second reading passed in a 7-0 vote.
More information on the fiscal year 2024 budget can be found on the town’s website, oceancitymd.gov.
“I’d like to thank our budget manager, the city manager and all the department heads for bringing forward a responsible budget and for holding the tax rate at the same rate it was last year, while at the same time continuing to fund all the necessities that we have funded in the past and continue to fund in the future – our street paving, our canal dredging,” Mayor Rick Meehan said earlier this month.
