Residents question $5.5 million Ocean City school budget surplus as tax increase proposed

Two residents pressed the Ocean City School District Board of Education on a reported $5.5 million surplus from last year and asked why some of those funds are not being used to reduce a proposed tax increase.

Victor Staniak, a resident who identified himself during the meeting’s public-comment period, pointed trustees to finance items on the agenda and said, “I totaled all 4 up. We have a total surplus of $5,500,000 from last year's budget.” He asked whether any of that surplus could be reserved to cover the planned tax increase.

A separate commenter, identified in the transcript as Dr. Stanion of Ocean City, told the board the surplus was part of a pattern. “Do you realize that you just approved over $5,000,000 in surplus funds for last year's budget? Do you know how much last year's budget was, total? Yeah. That sounds good. It was somewhere around $15,000,000. That means more than 10% of that budget was never used,” he said, adding that he had been told by a state representative that the district could operate on about $28,000,000 while the approved budget had been substantially larger in a prior year.

The two public commenters framed their questions as requests for clarity and asked the board to explain how last year’s unused funds relate to the proposed levy for the coming school year. The district’s formal finance items were listed on the agenda (the speaker referenced items 15–18), and members of the public were invited to address those items during the meeting’s agenda-only public comment period.

Board action during the meeting included votes on multiple sets of board resolutions and approval of meeting minutes. In the roll calls recorded on the transcript, several trustees cast targeted abstentions or negative votes on individual line items while voting yes on others. For the full-board resolutions roll call, the transcript records:

- Mister Allegretto: yes - Mister Halliday: yes (abstained from item K‑1324) - Doctor McAllister: yes (abstained from J‑4) - Missus Nicoletti: yes - Mister Neiman: yes - Miss Pelagonis: yes - Miss Panico: yes (voted no on G‑1, G‑2 and G‑3) - Doctor Roche: yes (abstained from J‑1, check numbers 202004 and 201981) - Mister Barnes: yes

A separate roll call for items affecting only Ocean City representatives similarly recorded yes votes with a few members noting they “stayed on” specified items.

The public comments did not elicit an on-the-record response from a named board member during the meeting; the board’s agenda proceeded to other items, including buildings and grounds, student recognitions and committee reports.

The meeting record and public commenters’ questions signal community interest in how year-end surpluses are calculated and applied to the following year’s tax levy. The transcript does not show the board providing a technical accounting or a specific decision to reallocate surplus funds during this meeting.

Community members seeking a response or detailed budget breakdown may consider requesting the district’s finance report or asking the business administrator to present the fund-balance and reserve policy at a future meeting.