Road tax should be paid by all who use our streets

Last Updated on Friday, July 20, 2012 10:59 pm Written by Cindy Nevitt Friday, July 20, 2012 01:00 am

Last week, many Ocean City residents woke up to the news that one of their councilmen had suggested charging homeowners $125 a year to fix the city’s roads.

Keith Hartzell, councilman at large, had proposed – during the previous evening’s council meeting – that a special assessment be levied against taxpayers in an attempt to cut in half the city’s two-decade-long timeline to repair streets and drainage. Based on discussions with city tax assessor Joe Elliott and finance director Frank Donato, Hartzell proposed an assessment of $125 per home per year for roughly 10 years, a plan that would raise $2.4 million annually.

Some residents have objected to the proposal on the grounds that they are already paying for road maintenance and improvements through their real estate taxes. Some oppose the idea because they do not trust that the money, if the city’s 8,970 registered voters approved the non-binding referendum, will always be used for the original intent of fixing the town’s deteriorating roadways.

I’m in the opposition camp to Hartzell’s road tax proposal, and I live on the pock-marked Merion Park street that is listed 12th among the city’s worst. Here’s why I vote no. Charging the owners of the island’s 19,153 ratable properties to repair roads, which are driven on by everyone who comes into town, is an unfair proposition when we taxpayers are paying $1.8 million to dredge the lagoons from 16th Street to Waterway Road and $10 million to shore up the boardwalk. Neither the lagoons nor the boardwalk are used by everyone in Ocean City, the way the roads are.

I join with the city’s civic organizations in applauding Hartzell for opening the discussion on how to get our roads repaired in less than 20 years, but I do not believe his idea is the best. I also do not believe politicians have a monopoly on generating outside-the-box ideas, and so I’ve decided to play this game, too. Herewith five ideas, all based upon the belief that users should pay for services received, that would spread the cost equitably and get our roads repaired before Jay Gillian is in his sixth consecutive term as mayor of Ocean City:

Put a toll booth on Ninth Street

Since the state paid the $500 million tab for the new Route 52 causeway, it is unlikely Ocean City will be able to erect a toll booth at the entrance. I propose putting a toll booth at the terminus, ala the Ocean City-Longport Bridge set-up, where motorists pay to come into town, but can leave free of charge. Residents would be given a transponder like that used by the EZ Pass system and allowed to come and go freely.

Tax rental units

Housing units that are rented on a short-term basis – weekly, monthly or seasonally – and those that provide overnight accommodations, such as motels, bring heavy traffic to town. We’ve all seen 16 people in a four-bedroom home with half a dozen cars crammed in the driveway and hanging over the sidewalk to the street. It is evident that the city’s 108 miles of roads and alleys take more abuse from the 1.5 million people who traipse through here in the 10 weeks of summer than the 11,700 who live here year-round.

Plus, since 30 percent of Ocean City’s year-round population is 65 and older, some of those people must have had their driving privileges revoked. Surely, they must want to know why they have to pay extra for something they only use when they can catch a ride to the doctor’s or grocery store.

Enact a truck tax

Those who use services requiring delivery by truck should pay for the extra wear and tear on the streets caused by large vehicles. Toll road fees are structured according to the number of axels vehicles have. Ocean City should adopt a similar fee schedule. Whether it’s a supermarket taking deliveries from an 18-wheeler, a restaurant receiving foodstuffs from a supplier, or a massage therapy center sending its dirty laundry to a linen service, all should be taxed accordingly for the extra stress the city’s streets endure.

Will the owners of these taxed establishments pass on the cost to their customers? Most likely. But I’d rather pay another nickel for every hoagie or slice of pizza sold on this island than pitch in $125 a year.

Raise the meter fees

Funny how the council that couldn’t see its way to approving an increase in parking meter fees can seriously discuss taxing every property owner a Benjamin and then some. What’s preferable: Everyone who parks downtown paying an extra quarter an hour or everyone who owns property paying $125 a year? The extra money raised from the parking meters would be specifically designated to go toward road repairs.

Pass a tourism tax

The fear that people will go elsewhere if a special user tax is enacted is not defensible. Wildwood has a tourism tax and the place is crawling with Canadians. Atlantic City has a luxury tax, yet attracted 28.5 million visitors last year. The lesson: Tax them, and they will still come.

If you have ideas for how Ocean City can get its streets in order, please post them to this column. And be sure to join me next week for a look at the city’s worst streets.

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