Commentary

Commentary Ocean City Today Jan. 6, 2023 Page 43 Budget balancing will get awkward

Following the Worcester County Commissioners’ budget process this year should prove interesting, as a new majority on the board wrestles with rising expenses, a tax rate they would like to cut and the availability of additional revenue that depends on not cutting the rate too much.

As reported elsewhere in the paper this week, the state’s reassessment of properties in tax district two — southern and middle Worcester along with West Ocean City — could result in $6 million or so in new money to the county treasury.

But that’s only if the commissioners maintain the current tax rate of .845 cents per $100 dollars of assessed value, a scenario that isn’t likely to happen, given the commissioners’ anti-tax sentiments.

If they did let that rate ride, so to speak, property owners in that district would see a considerable jump in their tax bills, which would be contrary to the commissioners’ oft-stated positions on taxes.

At the same time, however, lowering the tax rate so the owner of a house whose value rose by 35 percent would pay the same as last year would leave the commissioners scrambling to cover the increasing demand on the treasury.

Given the conservative fiscal approach the previous board of commissioners followed, there isn’t much fluff to eliminate, with the state locking the county in on school spending, fire departments countywide needing big help and the never-retreating nature of personnel expense.

No matter what the new majority does, it’s going to be a politically awkward exercise that will probably entail blaming upper tiers of government for unfunded mandates, bad school funding formulas and other budgetary constraints beyond their control.

While much of that may be true, it’s not a big enough umbrella to prevent the commissioners from getting rained on by unhappy voters if they don’t find an acceptable balance.

In the meantime, the public should follow the process, give the commissioners room to work and accept that change is inevitable.

Ocean City Today

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EDITOR ............................................ Stewart Dobson MANAGING EDITOR................................ Lisa Capitelli STAFF WRITERS ..............Jack Chavez, Mallory Panuska, ................................................................Cindy Hoffman ACCOUNT MANAGERS.......... Mary Cooper, Vicki Shrier ..............................................................Amanda Shick CLASSIFIEDS/LEGALS MANAGER .... Nancy MacCubbin SENIOR DESIGNER ................................ Susan Parks GRAPHIC ARTIST .................................... Kelly Brown PUBLISHER........................................ Christine Brown ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ...................... Gini Tufts

PUBLIC EYE Me for House Speaker

First, a flock of bluebirds unexpectedly showed up in my backyard on New Year’s Day.

On the second day of the year, the dog quickly tidied up after herself before I had to address an unfortunate incident in the foyer (Yeah, I know. They’re like that), and on the third day I heard a January frog croaking behind the office. Talk about your good omens! I’ll agree that the second episode was kind of a twoparter in the good luck department, but it did end well, at least in my view, if not the rest of the household. But still, New Year’s Day bluebirds and January frogs? What else would the average shaman require to declare that, yes, 2023 is going to be a great year.

So great, in fact, that when I learned this week that the Speaker of the House doesn’t have to be a member of Congress, I threw my name in the mix.

And why not? The pay is pretty good at $223,500 (plus cheap soup in the dining room), it’s a heartbeat from my dream job of vice-president, and according to my recently revised and updated resume, I’m highly qualified.

Foremost among my qualifications is the fact that I disagree with everyone about everything, which ought to earn me the support of Rep. Andy Harris, who’s done some of that from time to time.

And then, I could talk the ears off an acre of corn if left unimpeded, a trait that would seem to be important for someone with the title of “Speaker.” If nothing else, I would protect real House members from the media, as reporters would lose consciousness just as I offered my third, “You know, this reminds me of the time that I ...” Oh, and did I mention that I was a bombardier in World War II? Yep, it says so right on my resume, which also notes that I graduated from MIT, Columbia and NYU — on the same day! — and worked on Wall Street and was the actual inventor of the Popiel Pocket Fisherman. It says so right under the “Current Occu-

By pation” line that begins with “Captain of InStewart dustry.” Okay, fine. I made all that up, but a little Dobson resume embellishment here and there doesn’t seem to be a big deal these days. Besides, I really want the job. Why? As I say, it’s one heartbeat away from being vice-president, which I’ve aspired to ever since I was old enough to realize that not only are the pay and benefits good, but you’re also issued a cloak of invisibility so no matter what you do, no one will notice. As John Nance Garner said after serving as second-in-command under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the “Vice-president: A spare tire on the automobile of government.” That’s for me. Nice job, no heavy lifting and it will look good on my resume. But I have to become Speaker of the House first, which, if New Year’s Day bluebirds mean anything, I could become any day now. In the meantime, as I wait, I’ll return to writing my memoirs once I remember where I left off ... “So there I was, fighting with the French Resistance ...