By COLUMB HIGGINS
Staff Writer
OCEAN CITY – The city increased revenues from parking, beach tags and other services this summer, according to a 2007 trends report.
An emphasis on new technology helped boost the bottom dollar, according to city officials. For the first time this year, the city allowed for the purchase of beach tags and Music Pier tickets online. The Aquatic and Fitness Center also had an updated computer system installed.
Parking revenue was also up, but new technology in city lots didn’t necessarily help. City-owned parking lots had new electronic gates installed that allow drivers to conveniently park by the hour instead of for the entire day, a move that decreases revenue but increases the number of parkers.
Mayor Sal Perillo said Monday that it was a beneficial tradeoff for the city.
“It’s for a family that wants to park for two hours and go up to the Boardwalk,” he said.
Parking revenue rose more than $330,000 to $1.3 million in 2007. The number of vehicles parked also increased to 148,478, a figure which was helped by the purchase of additional parking lots last year.
Beach tag revenue was up as well, according to city figures. The city sold 345,113 beach tags this year. Revenue from the sale of the tags increased $426,000 to $3.3 million. Weekly tag sales decreased, while seasonal and daily tag sales picked up the slack.
The Ocean City Municipal Airport parked 1,828 planes until September, up significantly from last year, but the city made only $7,200. Airport merchandise and fuel sales dropped more than $24,000 combined.
Boat ramp revenues rose $1,000 to $42,764.
The added revenue is balanced by a dramatic slowdown in new home construction and increased ratables here. Figures show that only 101 new residential units were built as of the end of September, while 79 units were demolished.
Starting in 2000, Ocean City regularly saw new residential construction reaching 400 or 500 units per year. The new units meant more ratables for city coffers, but that status quo changed last year with the burst of the housing bubble.
Ratables rose around three percent this year. The city has averaged a 20 percent increase since 2000.
Perillo said the city was challenged to provide the same services with fewer resources this year. The same will most likely go for 2008.
“Anyone can do more with more,” he said. “We’re trying to do more with less.”
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By COLUMB HIGGINS
Staff Writer
OCEAN CITY – Mayor Sal Perillo was on the hot seat Monday as citizens peppered him with questions about his past year in office and where the city is headed.
Topics ranged from zoning to the city budget to banning smoking in all public places.
Most citizen remarks focused on the use of rainforest hardwood on the Boardwalk, but Perillo didn’t budge. The mayor said he has not entertained the thought of canceling the wood purchase for a moment.
“I take contracts very seriously,” he said. “We have a contract for FSC-certified wood.”
Perillo said the city will continue to evaluate all other options for the Boardwalk, installing 20-foot sections of black locust and plastic.
Only a few questions or comments complimented Perillo. The mayor said he recognized residents loved their town fiercely, but added Ocean City residents might have it better than they realize.
“We are our own worst enemies sometimes,” he said. “We tend sometimes to exaggerate the problems.”
The mayor referred to a recent marketing study done by the city that shows public perception of Ocean City actually gets worse the closer one lives to the island. Residents are the most down about their town, he said.
“The closer you get, the more critical people are,” he said. “Further away you get a more positive view.”
“We live here,” one resident interjected.
The debate over city spending and zoning paled in comparison to the Boardwalk controversy, but the mayor defended city actions there too.
In response to criticism that Ocean City’s budget has ballooned from $27 million to $56 million in 10 years, and that it could continue to grow in the future, Perillo said it is a challenge to maintain a high level of services for this resort town and its changing population.
“I don’t accept the premise that the budget is out of control,” he said.
The mayor said nine full-time positions were cut from the budget last year. Health insurance costs, one of the city’s largest expense items and equal to the cost of funding the police department, have also been cut by $100,000 by changing the city’s drug insurance provider. The city’s capital budget was also trimmed by $10 million over the next five years. Recycling and solid waste contracts with new providers have saved the city more than $1 million if it had stayed with Waste Management.
“When I came into office this city had hundreds of hourly employees and hardly anyone punched a clock,” Perillo said. “Supervisors spent a lot of time manually entering time records.”
The city has since installed electronic time clocks, he said.
On zoning, the mayor said a residential ordinance affecting every neighborhood in the city should come to council by December. A separate ordinance creating a Floor Area Ratio, essentially linking the size of a building to the size of a lot, should move forward after that.
“Ocean City is one of the few towns, maybe the only town, that has the number of exceptions to building coverage,” the mayor said. “The new ordinance will close those loopholes and fix some definitions and aberrational problems in zones.”
But resident Dan Smith asked whether homeowners and business owners could trust the permits Ocean City grants. He said the city’s zoning changes have affected property owners even after they’ve gotten approvals.
“The city is taking back permits,” he said, referring to several downtown properties. “I don’t think it’s legal, and I’m pretty sure it’s not moral.”
City council recently voted against paying a legal bill, partly in protest to the number of legal suits between the city and owners who have been prevented from developing their properties.
Perillo said he thought development on properties like Hoy’s 5 & 10, Johnson’s or the Crown Bank Building would hurt Asbury Avenue for years. The city acted to stop those projects in order to pass zoning that is more suitable for the downtown.
“Once a building is built it is going to be there for generations,” he said.
When asked about banning smoking in public, Perillo said he would have to think about such a proposal. |
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OCEAN CITY – The city’s environmental commission voted to support a public question that will go before the voters in the statewide election next week, Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Ballot question number three asks voters to authorize $200 million in bonds for the acquisition and development of lands for recreation or conservation, preservation of farmland, acquisition of properties in the floodways of the Delaware River, Passaic River and Raritan River that are prone to flood or storm damage, and funding historic preservation projects.
The state has proposed spending $109 million for Green Acres, $73 million for farmland preservation, $12 million for Blue Acres, and $6 million for historic preservation.
Patrick Gill, chair of the Ocean City Environmental Commission, said voting yes for the ballot question would “provide funding to continue land preservation programs for which the state is renowned.”
Ocean City council authorized a Green Acres application at its meeting last Tuesday that would fund improvements to the North Street and 34th Street playgrounds. The city has used Green Acres funding for various projects.
“The city has an aggressive plan to enhance five parks in 2008 and Green Acres funding will certainly help make these projects a reality,” Mayor Sal Perillo said in a statement.
Ocean City improved Gateway Park, the 52nd Street Playground and the Tennessee Avenue Park in 2007. Earlier this month, a contract was awarded for the renovations of the Eighth Street Park.
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| The debate over filling three vacant fire and two vacant police positions was mostly civilized Thursday night. But the night still managed to produce two boogey men, or women. |
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| A group of local environmental activists are threatening to boycott the Boardwalk if the city moves forward with plans to use Ipe hardwood, which is harvested from the Brazilian rainforest. |
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| Council members finally approved a budget Thursday night, after more than three hours of debate. Deadlocked looked certain, until once councilman changed his mind. |
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| Posted by Columb Higgins at | | | |
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| Kick the tires and light the fires. Or don't. City council is cutting firefighters after all... |
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| Posted by Columb Higgins at | | | |
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| Sea Isle City's biggest election in years had 23 candidates running for six offices. Almost three-quarter of voters went to the polls. Did they just roll dice in the voting booth, or what? |
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| Posted by Columb Higgins at | | | |
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| U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie came to Ocean City Tuesday and discussed the arrests of six men charged with plotting to attack Fort Dix. |
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