Mayor Jay Gillian’s administration will introduce its proposed budget for 2015 at the City Council meeting on Thursday (Feb. 12) at City Hall.
The draft budget gives property owners a first look at what they might pay in taxes next year. The presentation is the first step in a process that leads to City Council’s adoption of a final budget in the spring.
City Council last year adopted a 2014 municipal budget that called for spending a total of $69,861,685 and raising $44,793,202 from local taxpayers (a 2.57 percent increase). The owner of a $500,000 home in Ocean City last year saw an increase of $73 in municipal taxes (an increase of $14.60 for every $100,000 of assessed value).
That figure did not include school or county taxes. The municipal budget and a small library tax accounted for about 50 percent of a property owner’s tax bill in 2013. The other half was divided evenly between county taxes and school taxes.
The tax rate increased by 3.78 percent (compensating for a decreasing ratable base). But with a three-year, in-house program to reassess 17,000 properties in Ocean City now complete, tax rates should begin to stabilize. After years where as many as 800 properties won tax appeals, only a handful did this year.
On the expense side, Ocean City’s biggest budget item is salaries and wages for about 256 full-time employees: $28.6 million in 2014.
See more detailed information on Ocean City’s 2014 municipal budget.
Thursday’s public meeting will also include a number of other agenda items that might be of interest:
- No Jumping From Bridges: City Council will consider the second and potentially final reading of an ordinance making it unlawful to jump from any bridge within the city limits (a tool Ocean City police currently do not have). The practice apparently is more a problem on the Russ Chattin Bridge near Corson’s Inlet State Park. Another amendment would allow police to claim as abandoned any bicycle left unmoved on public property for more than 7 days. (See full text of ordinance in agenda packet below.)
- Dredging Bayside Lagoons and Channels: City Council will vote on the second reading of an ordinance authorizing the spending of $5 million ($4.75 million of it to be borrowed) this year to dredge lagoons and bayside channels that are too shallow for boat traffic. The bond ordinance would allow the emptying of an existing spoils site that is filled to capacity. It also would include money for the start of a dredging project at an unspecified area. Read more: A $5 Million Promise: “They Better Be Dredging by July 1.”
- Ice-Cream Vendors: City Council will consider the second reading of an ordinance that: reduces the number of bicycle-cart licenses from 20 to 12; allows one vendor to bid on all 12 licenses; changes hours of operation to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (from 10 a.m. to sunset); raises minimum bids from truck vendors from $1,500 to $2,000; and prohibits more than one vendor from selling at the same street end at the same time.
- Housekeeping Ordinances: City Council will consider the first readings of two ordinances: one that changes an outdated law making it possible for the mayor and City Council to appoint a replacement for a retiring tax collector, the other more clearly delineating the line of authority to help with an Ocean City Police Department re-accreditation application.
- New 5-Year Leases for Yianni’s (at Community Center) and Airport Diner: City Council will consider approving new five-year leases for the existing restaurant vendors at the Ocean City Community Center (Ioannis Signs of SoHoRo LLC, Yianni’s Cafe) and the Ocean City Municipal Airport (John Kurz of Lo-Jo Enterprises, Airport Diner). Both companies were the sole bidders on their respective concession contracts.
- Bayside Park and Marina: City Council will vote to approve a $191,561 contract with K&G Marine Contracting of Manahawkin for bulkhead improvements. The work will replace the bulkhead at the Tennessee Avenue boat ramp (near 22nd Street) and also restore the south pier in the public park on the bay at Second Street. The pier was destroyed in Superstorm Sandy, and work would include replacing boat slips, power and water. The work will restore what existed before Sandy, and will likely be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
For the full text of all agenda items and supporting documentation, see the City Council agenda packet below.
