Rehoboth Beach will raise parking fees and the city’s rental tax rate to compensate for a budget deficit.
The Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners voted last week to raise the hourly parking meter rate, parking permit fees, and rental tax rate to fill a $4.4 million hole in the city’s proposed $37 million fiscal year 2025 budget.
City-wide, metered parking is rising from $3 to $4 an hour and parking permit fees are increasing by about 30 percent across the board. But Mayor Stan Mills notes these fees are only applied in the summer season – May 15-Sept 15.
“So parking right now is free, but it’s still overall a great deal for all the amenities and the use of the beach and the boardwalk and our downtown area," Mills says. "What a deal you get for a few bucks.”
Mills adds the one percent increase in the rental tax rate, from six to seven percent, will generate around half a million dollars. He calls the city’s budget “aggressive” with heavy investments in city employees – covering rising healthcare costs and salary increases – plus some capital improvements and maintenance.
“We have our own wastewater treatment plant and it needs significant infrastructure improvements that are very costly," Mills says.
He adds they have started to prepare residents for other increases too.
“We knew that this coming year and in the next year we had significant infrastructure repairs," Mills says. "So the wastewater rate will go from probably in the $14 range to $17 range and the property tax is going up minimal I think maybe eight cents per $100 assessed value.”
Mills says the board will consider increases to the property tax and wastewater rates at its March 15 meeting. The full budget is expected to be adopted next month.
