County, Federal Court Opinions Sought On Tax Referendum

OCEAN CITY — In what appears to be a case of the cart before the horse, organizers of a petition drive to return the property tax rate in Ocean City to 2009 levels filed a complaint in U.S. District Court earlier this month seeking a federal review of the validity of the petition.

In May, a group of concerned property owners in the resort operating — Ocean City Taxpayers for Social Justice — submitted a petition to lower Ocean City’s tax rate to the 2009 level of 38 cents per $100 of assessed value. On the same day, the Mayor and Council approved the fiscal year 2016 budget.

In simplest terms, the Ocean City Tax Payers for Social Justice group if seeking a return to the 2009 property tax rate of 38 cents, asserting the increase in the rate over the years has forced many to leave Ocean City to neighboring jurisdictions and has stifled the growth of small business.

Meanwhile, the Mayor and Council have contended the increase in the property tax rate in recent years to the fiscal year 2016 rate of 47.8 cents is consistent with the constant yield, or the rate needed to generate the same amount of revenue required to continue to provide the same level of municipal services residents and visitors have come to expect.

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