Rehoboth Beach’s new budget sees no changes to taxes and other fees.
The 2026 fiscal year starts April 1, and the city’s spending plan sees a $5 million increase from the current year.
Rehoboth Beach city manager Taylour Tedder said that’s possible because the city is living within its revenue means.
“And with the departmental requests that we received, we tried to right size those to fit in with our revenue sources that we have,” Tedder said. “And ultimately over time, the city built up its strong financial position since about 2008 from almost nothing.”
The nearly $44 million budget includes cost of living increases for city staff, a $250 thousand contribution to the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company and a $75 thousand contribution to the Rehoboth Beach Public Library.
City employees will see a 3 percent cost of living increase in their salaries, which nearly keeps up with inflation rates in Sussex County, according to Tedder. The national inflation rate in the U.S. is 2.8 percent, and Tedder said Sussex County’s inflation rate sits a bit higher at 3.4 percent.
The Board of Commissioners also increased employee health coverage to 100 percent and continues to cover dependents at an 80 percent rate.
“It's about remaining competitive in the market and making sure that down the line we don't have a big increase that we need to do.”
The city’s Board of Commissioners also committed money to the city’s wastewater treatment plant facility, Tedder said.
“That's about $4.7 million, which will be invested in our sewer system and various other things. We are working to address PFAS, the forever chemicals that will most likely be in updated EPA standards coming soon. So we want to get ahead of that.”
The city expects to see higher revenues in the coming fiscal year from property transfer taxes, parking and rental taxes.
