OCEAN CITY – Ocean City Council unanimously approved a $78.88-million budget for 2019 April 11, but not before trimming $50,000 from the budgeted salaries and wages for firefighters.
Councilman Keith Hartzell made the motion. He praised the work firefighters do, saying he witnessed crews saving a life on a medical call, but indicated that overtime expenses could be reduced.
He cited conversations with fire officials and with the city administration, saying the city challenged the department to keep overtime expenses under $200,000 a year. He stated the change would mean no reduction in services. With a second from Councilman Robert “Bob” Barr, council approved the change and the budget.
The budget, as introduced, includes more than $7 million for salaries and wages for fire protection and prevention and $223,700 for other expenses. It also includes a line item specific to overtime.
Mayor Jay Gillian said after the meeting that the fire department would be able to work with the reduction.
“They have to,” he said, adding that he has complete confidence in the department.
Hartzell’s resolution puts the $50,000 into the budget’s fund balance, rather than toward what would be a negligible reduction in property taxes. The budget includes a tax rate of 45.9 cents per $100 of assessed value, which means the owner of a house assessed at $600,000 – about average for Ocean City – would pay $2,754 in city taxes next year, in addition to school and county taxes. The rate did not increase compared to 2018.
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