By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
City Council gave final approval Thursday night to a $113.6 million municipal budget, but one member of the governing body dissented after asserting that Ocean City needs to scrutinize its spending for employee salaries.
While voting against the spending plan, Councilman Tom Rotondi maintained that the city needs to “get serious” about some positions that might not be absolutely necessary. He did not name names or specify any positions that he had in mind.
“I think the budget could be reduced by having the city do more with less,” he said in an interview after the meeting.
Rotondi said he feels the city is well-run overall and includes “amazing” professionals throughout the ranks. But at the same time, he suggested that the city should consider reviewing each employee to see if there is any duplication in duties.
In the interview, Rotondi said there might be an opportunity for the city to cut some of its payroll. However, he stressed that he did not want to reduce any city services or programs.
“We don’t want to cut services,” he said. “We do a great job with our city services.”
Overall, the budget was approved by a 5-1 vote. Council members who supported the budget praised Mayor Jay Gillian and his administration for putting together a spending plan that they say meets the city’s needs and preserves municipal services.
The budget includes a 3.7-cent increase in the local tax rate, which drew objections from one local homeowner. The tax increase means that the owner of an average home assessed at $650,000 will pay an extra $241 annually for local property taxes.
Dave Hayes, a 20-year Ocean City resident, criticized the tax increase while predicting that senior citizens and young families will be forced to leave town because of higher costs.
Hayes, who noted that the tax bill on his house will increase by about $1,000, said local residents are already struggling with inflation and should not be burdened by higher taxes.
He told Council that the city would be “fiscally responsible” by cutting the budget – not by raising taxes.
In response to Hayes’ comments, Gillian emphasized that the city doesn’t want to raise taxes. But he also noted that his administration spent a lot of time carefully crafting a budget to pay its expenses and maintain services.
“Nobody likes what this budget is,” Gillian said, referring to the tax increase.
Mounting expenses for city salaries, pensions, healthcare, liability insurance and trash collection are among the primary reasons why the budget is higher than the 2023 spending plan, Chief Financial Officer Donato explained during a presentation in April.
The city will use $6 million of its $11.4 million surplus to help pay for the budget. The remaining $5.4 million in surplus funding will be kept in reserve in case there are emergencies or unforeseen expenses in the future.
The city also benefits from its growing tax base, a sign that the local real estate market remains strong, Donato said. More than $200 million in assessed value was added this year, raising the city’s total tax base to $12.7 billion.
Also helping to pay for the budget is the city’s array of revenue sources, including beach tag sales, parking charges and construction code fees. Beach tag sales and parking fees are expected to generate about $5.8 million and $4 million, respectively, in revenue this year, the budget shows.
The Council meeting was held at the Stainton Senior Center instead of City Hall. The meeting was shifted to the senior center because the elevator at City Hall is out of service while undergoing repairs.
In other business at the meeting, one of the City Council candidates in the May 14 municipal election sought to clarify comments that he made at a candidates’ forum that were critical of the mayor and three Council members.
Mike DeVlieger, a former councilman who is running for the open at-large Council seat in the election, alleged at the forum on April 29 that Gillian is “indebted” to the developers in town and that Council members Pete Madden, Tony Polcini and Dave Winslow are “pawns” of the mayor.
Addressing the Council members and mayor Thursday, DeVlieger said he wasn’t engaging in personal attacks and didn’t mean to offend anyone with his remarks at the forum.
“Maybe it sounded mean. I apologize if it sounded mean. What I’m saying is, bang heads occasionally. You’ll come up with a better solution,” he said.
DeVlieger repeated that he still believes Gillian is too close to the developers in town and that the three Council members are too compliant with the mayor’s wishes.
But he argued that Ocean City’s government must maintain its system of checks and balances by engaging in serious debate on the issues when needed and occasionally voting no on the mayor’s policies.
When he was on Council from 2012 to 2021, DeVlieger said he voted to support the mayor’s policies the vast majority of the time. But he was also willing to vote against the mayor if he objected, he said.
“What I’m saying is that 5 percent of the time, you’ve got to roll up your sleeves, you’ve got to ask tough questions,” DeVlieger said.
Madden, Polcini and Winslow all flatly denied being Gillian’s pawns after DeVlieger first made the allegation at the candidates’ forum. They did not publicly respond to him Thursday night. DeVlieger left the meeting after speaking.
However, Gillian strongly denied DeVlieger’s remarks. Although DeVlieger was no longer in the audience, Gillian challenged DeVlieger to prove his allegations that he is too closely aligned with the developers.
“Tell me where it is. Prove it,” Gillian said, his voice rising in anger.
Gillian said he is growing sick and tired of negative remarks being made about him during the election campaign.
“I am tired of being accused of things. Prove it,” he said.
He added, “I am not going to sit here and take it anymore.”
