At the final 2019 regular commissioners meeting in City Hall, there was mention of the $880,000 surplus parking revenue from the 2019 season as though that’s now available to spend. There was elation about this “found” money.
Most commissioners described their personal wish list, including consulting fees for what is currently undertaken by well-meaning and well-educated volunteers, as well as some entirely new projects with high price tags. Some items smacked of “pet” projects.
In a lot of small towns, the parking surplus would be seen as an opportunity to give a rebate to the residents when the cost of living has risen significantly. Due to property tax hikes of 50 percent July 1, and utility rate hikes of as much as 80 percent Aug. 16, this “windfall” from parking fees should be shared.
Residents are now facing some of the highest water/wastewater rates in the Mid-Atlantic region, since the city did not adopt tiered rates, and abolished the long-standing seasonal rate structure of a 50 percent differential. A rebate on upcoming utility bills is something to which the mayor and commissioners should give serious consideration.
A modest proposal which would bring back the seasonal structure which was abolished via the Aug. 16 flat rates ordinance, in a proximate way: What if the first $100 of gallon usage on the Q4 and the Q1 bill (the previous “off-peak” period) were to be written off?
This would be a good proxy to charge the smaller, steadier year-round customers less. The investors with large rental properties which aren’t even open in the winter would continue to pay the fixed ready-to-serve fees in Q4 2019 and Q1 2020 (as would everyone else). Small households which use only a few thousand gallons per quarter would not get the full $100 rebate, but rather the amount of their gallon usage up to $100 for each of those two quarters.
If we assume there are 2,000 year-round residential customers who will benefit from the full $100 for each of two quarters, the total tab for this “rebate” will be $400,000 annually. City of Rehoboth Beach water customers who are beyond town limits are included in the 2,000 year-round customers, so I am being generous in my calculation, to ensure that the total doesn’t exceed $400,000. Some of those out-of-town customers face water rates 50 to 100 percent more than in-town customers, so the $200 annually will be a welcome boost to their household budgets.
And $400,000 is still less than half the parking surplus of 2019 ($880,000).
The 2019 rise in parking meter rates bodes well for parking revenue to be strong in summer 2020 and beyond. So the funding of this rebate program would be sustainable. If this rebate were to be adopted, less water revenue would head toward the General Fund.
The residents were never given a cogent explanation as to why water rates had to rise from $2.10/off-peak and $3.10/peak to the current $6.30 (per 1000 gallons), so why not stop this “flow” to the General Fund which seems unnecessary. Potentially there is less control over how the General Fund is spent, so the rebate may help the city regain control over discretionary, non-essential spending.
This would be an olive branch offered to the full-time residents of Rehoboth Beach.
Many of them called City Hall in shock over their water bills for Q3 2019. For better or worse, those Q3 bills were still under interim rates. So rates which will be billed in early January for Q4 2019 are actually another 20-30 percent higher.
More consideration given to the residents by the board of commissioners would be appreciated as a New Year’s gift in the City of Rehoboth Beach, to those who are here day in and day out in the winter months. Many restaurant owners and business owners are included in the rebate, so it will help them weather the off-season, and help them keep their staff employed in the winter months.
The residents are aware that the business community has different goals and priorities, but in the long run, the flat rates were not in anyone’s interest in a coastal community like Rehoboth Beach.
Suzanne Goode
Rehoboth Beach
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