A proposed charter change in Rehoboth Beach could almost double the amount of property tax money the city would be allowed to bring in.
Under its current charter, the city is prohibited from raising more than a flat $3 million in property tax revenue per year. The city’s current budget is well within that limit, coming in at around $2.6 million.
Last week, city officials heard a proposal to do away with the $3 million limit and instead cap the total amount the city can bring in at 0.15% of the total property value of the town.
Commissioner Craig Thier noted that the percentage-based cap would give the city the ability to raise taxes in a significant way.
“So we're basically raising our cap today - what we can raise [in] taxes - from $3 million to $5.3 million, when our budget's only at $2.6 million," Thier said.
But, Commissioner Chris Galanty responded that just because the cap is there doesn’t mean that city officials will take advantage of it.
“The message to our residents is we are not raising taxes. That's not what is happening here," he said. "What is happening here is we are giving ourselves flexibility in our ability to collect taxes.”
The proposal comes as part of a package of charter adjustments, including provisions giving the city the choice to use Sussex County tax assessments instead of doing their own and allowing commissioners to raise their salaries, with those raises taking effect in the next term of office.
The commission could vote on that and other charter changes next month. If passed, the changes would still need approval by state lawmakers.
Commissioners also heard a followup on a thorny issue raised last month - the changing of some of the city's summer bandstand concerts.
At a December meeting, business owners whose shops and restaurants sit near the bandstand told commissioners that the crowds at the free concerts spill out of the bandstand area, choking sidewalks and blocking access to their businesses on some of the busiest days of the busiest season.
At Friday's meeting, City Manager Taylour Tedder told commissioners that the city is taking that into account and changing two concerts this summer. A concert scheduled for Friday, June 26 will be moved to Thursday, June 25. The concerts on June 27 and 28 will go ahead as scheduled. Additionally, a Sunday night concert on July 19 has been cancelled.
Tedder says the city will use data from Placer AI to see if the changes make a difference in business activity.
Commissioners also moved ahead with a slate of changes to some of its seasonal laws presented in December. The point of those changes is to make some seasonal laws effective year-round, while lining up others with existing effective seasonal dates. As passed, the changes are:
- Prohibiting parking on parts of Queen Street, Prospect Street, and Lake Drive from May 15 - September 15.
- Prohibiting left turns in some places from May 15 - September 15.
- Banning people from the beach from 1:00 a.m. to sunrise year round.
- Banning smoking on the beach and boardwalk, except in designated areas, from May 15 - September 15.
Commissioners sparred over proposed changes about dogs on the beach, however. The original proposal would have prohibited dogs on the boardwalk from May 15 through September 15.
Thier raised objections about the timing, however, saying that lifeguards are stationed on the beach on weekends through late September, and that he didn't want lifeguards distracted by dogs.
Collins Roth, a member of the City Streets & Safety Advisory Committee, which drafted the changes, told commissioners that it wasn't something the committee considered, adding he didn't think making the change pushed for by Thier would be problematic.
Commissioner Patrick Gossett suggested that the proposal be changed to prohibit dogs on the boardwalk from May 15 through September 15 and from the beach whenever lifeguards are on duty.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the changes. Two members were absent.
