Ocean City Proposes $80-million Budget; Boardwalk Performer Ordinance OK’d

OCEAN CITY – This resort’s City Council met March 23 and heard comments by a resident, William Hartranft, that the city, “Should do more to really figure out how many employees Ocean City needs. What kinds of jobs are bringing value which maybe an outsider review of the process could assess?” he asked. “We have 73 police officers; that works out to eight per square mile,” Hartranft continued. 
In response Business Administrator James Mallon said, “We have made many reductions in personnel. In fact, unless a position is required by statute, we look long and hard at whether to fill it. If needed we try to fill a vacant position in-house.”
Council member Keith Hartzell added, “We actually have 57 police officers which, when benchmarking against other shore towns, compares very favorably. We’re also down dozens of city employees since the high of 290 in 2006.”
Mayor Jay Gillian reported that he had met with State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) to give him a heads-up on the resort’s ongoing dredging projects.
Gillian also complimented council for working so well with city administration to have the Boardwalk refurbishment go smoothly. “We’ve saved the taxpayer lots of money by doing things right. Together we found the best way and made it cost-effective and also reduced the time for this project from seven years to five years,” he said.
2017 Budget
Gillian and financial officer Frank Donato introduced the administration’s proposed 2017 budget that reaches nearly $80 million for 2017. 
“I am proposing a budget of $79,657,919 that also includes a $4,188,420 tax increase city-wide. This means a homeowner in Ocean City with a property valued at $500,000 will pay a tax increase of $143 for this year,” stated Gillian.
Donato highlighted that the city strives to maintain a healthy fund balance to protect against emergencies and provide cash flow throughout the year.
Donato noted that the proposed budget complies with both the spending cap and tax levy cap required by state law. Public comment and second reading are scheduled for April 27.
Boardwalk Performer Ordinance
Council approved, on second reading, the much-discussed regulations regarding supervision of performers on the Boardwalk. These regulations have undergone some revisions as the city has striven to include as many viewpoints as feasible especially those of younger performers and the Boardwalk Merchants’ Association.
As has been reported in recent editions of the Herald, the latest version approved provides for registration of performers while eliminating aspects of supervision such as fingerprinting. 
One resident said, “We’re very happy to see how compromise works. I teach a civics course to immigrants, and I’ve been using this ordinance as an example of democracy at its finest.” 
During the opportunity for council to make final observations, Hartzell said, “I wasn’t here for first reading, so this is a bit 11th hour but why haven’t we included one day, especially Sunday which is special in Ocean City, for no performances at all?”
Gillian replied that many constituent groups had been consulted, not just the Boardwalk merchants and performers, all had negotiated in good faith, and the ordinance represented the best consensus available.
After additional discussion, city Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson pointed out that the ordinance could be reviewed and finetuned after the summer for results and potential improvements and Council then passed this ordinance unanimously.
Getty Site Purchased
Council gave its final green light to fund the purchase of the Ninth Street site where the abandoned Getty gas station was situated.
The location is earmarked to continue the “gateway” concept into the city with eco-friendly features such as a park and plantings. Hartzell recused himself because as he stated he had just bought a property across from the Getty site.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.