SNOW HILL – Citing the millions in grants provided to the resort each year, attorneys for the Worcester County Commissioners late last week filed a motion to dismiss the civil suit filed earlier this year by the Town of Ocean City over the long-standing tax differential issue.
In January, after years of veiled threats, Ocean City filed a petition for declaratory judgment against Worcester County seeking judicial relief on the tax differential stalemate. In simplest terms, tax differential, or a tax setoff, may be granted by a county to a municipality for services and programs duplicated by the two jurisdictions.
Last Friday, attorneys for the Worcester County Commissioners filed a motion to dismiss the case or, in the alternative, enter summary judgment in favor of the county. While Ocean City is asserting the town is owed tax differential, or a tax setoff, because of the services and programs the municipality provides to its residents and visitors, services the county would otherwise have to provide, Worcester County contends the unrestricted grants it provides to the town each year satisfies the cost of duplicated services.
The motion to dismiss the suit filed late last week “hereby requests that this honorable court dismiss this action because this action is not ripe or, in the alternative, enter summary judgment in favor of the defendants as there is no genuine dispute or material fact and defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
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They'll forget about it for some years then some joker will bring it up as a campaign issue, vowing to get $$ back from the county that
ReplyDeletethey say are theirs.
hile Ocean City is asserting the town is owed tax differential, or a tax setoff, because of the services and programs the municipality provides to its residents and visitors, services the county would otherwise have to provide
ReplyDelete---
What services are duplicated other than the police? Who told the city to get their own police department? That's like me buying a new car and expecting my employer give me a pay raise to pay for it.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThey'll forget about it for some years then some joker will bring it up as a campaign issue, vowing to get $$ back from the county that
they say are theirs.
March 28, 2018 at 2:15 PM
Carl Anderton, Barrie Tilghman, Jim Ireton and Jake Day. All crybabies thinking they are owed something.
Remember when Barrie Tilghman or was it Jim Ireton got Fruitland and Delmar to get on board their crybaby train.
This is a State law that applies to the Western Shore as "shall". On the Eastern Shore it is "may" .Ocean City , like Salisbury , incurs significant expense providing services that the County would otherwise have to provide. The City of Salisbury should make their legitimate claim for a tax differential offset for services including Police, Public Works, Parks , Recreation, etc. The County taxpayers, Wicomico AND Worcester would have would have their taxes increased if the City of Salisbury taxpayers did not provide those services.
ReplyDeleteYou can call it crybaby , but as a City taxpayer , i call it unfair and inequitable. At least Ocean City and the other Worcester County Cities get a rebate from the County which is more that i can say for Wicomico