‘Independent Judicial Review’ Sought On OC Tax Petition

OCEAN CITY – With the full support of Mayor Rick Meehan, the City Council voted this week to seek an independent opinion regarding the legal implications of a successful petition to reduce the property tax rate to the 2009 rate.

Last month the Ocean City taxpayers for Social Justice (OCTSJ) submitted a petition to lower Ocean City’s tax rate to the 2009 rate of 38 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The same day the Mayor and City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget that raise the tax rate 2 percent to 47.8 cents.

A couple of weeks ago, Board of Elections Chair Mary Adeline Bradford verified 1,787 petition signatures were submitted. Out of those signatures, 310 were excused, leaving 1,477 valid signatures, which exceeded the required 1,228 signatures needed to require the town conduct a referendum within 90 days or at the next scheduled election, which is in November of 2016.

More