Rehoboth proposed charter change bad for ballooning budget
A property tax cap in the Rehoboth Beach charter, currently fixed at $3 million, is the only check property owners have on the budget and on spending. Not that this backstop has worked given the growth rate in the budget, so naturally the city is approaching the $3 million threshold of property taxes levied. That is why it’s a guardrail we desperately need to control spending going forward. The board of commissioners should vote against a charter change currently under consideration in order to prevent continued bad management of the city’s finances, which includes double-digit budget growth year-over-year for the upcoming fiscal year. I believe this charter change is being pushed by the city’s top administrators, as it is in their interest to grow city hall’s budget.
Escalating salaries and benefits for city employees, solicitation of additional organizations to become dependents of the city via grants, larger-scale projects than warranted for a 1.2-square-mile town, and other unnecessary spending have grown the city’s budget well beyond the prevailing inflation rate.
I hope my fellow commissioners refuse to adopt this proposed charter change, in the hope of gaining control of the city’s bloated finances. The current debt exceeds $60 million, and while some of that debt carries a low interest rate, the principal needs to be repaid on all of the city’s debt. The most recent borrowing, in December 2024, for $5.5 million to fund the new lifeguard station, for example, carries an interest rate of just above 4%. I was the sole commissioner to vote against taking on that new debt. I wanted to make judicious cuts to spending, but gained little traction – with the occasional exception of one or two fellow board members – on reasonable suggestions to stem spending.
There are looming stormwater infrastructure costs and other known infrastructure needs. Raising the property tax cap allows the board to generate additional property taxes to cover these necessary expenses, and never to cut back on wasteful spending.
Taxpayers deserve some restraint by their elected officials.
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