Board of Taxation approves settlement in Rancor Properties appeal over Ocean City development-fee ordinance

At its June 17, 2025 meeting in Cape May Court House, the Cape May County Board of Taxation approved settlement stipulations in the tax appeal Rancor Properties LLC v. Ocean City, a dispute over the implementation of Ocean City ordinance #18-22 on residential development fees. The settlement was approved on a motion by Elizabeth A. Barry, seconded by Lu Ann Wowkanech, and carried.

The case was presented to the board as part of a scheduled appeals session. The developer was represented by attorney John Amenhauser, Esq.; Ocean City was represented by Joseph Elliott, Ocean City Tax Assessor, and Dottie McCrosson, Esq. According to the minutes, the disagreement centered on differing interpretations of subsections within ordinance #18-22. The minutes state that both sides argued their positions on the basis of those subsections; the document notes that the details of individual matters are omitted from the minutes.

The minutes record that appeals and the corresponding judgments are permanent records of the board. The written minutes do not show a roll-call vote or a tally for the settlement motion; they simply note that the motion carried.

Because the published minutes summarize the board’s action and omit the attorneys’ detailed arguments, the record available to the public consists of the approved settlement stipulations and the board’s notation that the session was set down for hearing appeals. The next regularly scheduled meeting was listed as July 8, 2025.