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Dewey Beach council revises beach‑assessment tax formula; debate centers on reassessment and referendum language
Summary
Council voted Feb. 13 to change the beach assessment calculation to 0.11 per $100 of the most recent Sussex County assessed value, prompting debate over whether reassessments should trigger a recalculation or require referendum protections; motion passed with one abstention.
Dewey Beach — The Town Council on Feb. 13 approved an ordinance changing how the town's beach assessment is calculated, a move officials said was intended to correct long‑standing mismatches between assessed value and the municipal contribution to the beach fund.
Under the new formula the town will apply a rate of 0.11 per $100 of a property's assessed value as captured in the most recent Sussex County assessment used for billing. Council members described the change as intended to make contributions equitable across property owners and to correct anomalies that developed when the code referenced an older baseline assessment year.
Discussion focused on whether changes in assessed value — both individual property revaluations after new construction and countywide reassessments — should automatically change a property’s beach assessment or trigger a separate council action. Commissioner Persinger and others favored tying the rate to current county assessments so new construction and newly valuable properties contribute in line with their assessed value. One commissioner asked for explicit wording to ensure the town could recalibrate the rate after a countywide reassessment to preserve aggregate revenue neutrality or require a referendum for large increases.
Resident David Mosquitz told the council that state law requires revenue neutrality for some reassessments and cautioned against ad hoc reassessment practices. Council members agreed the town should use Sussex County assessments for billing and left a mechanism in place to review the formula when a full reassessment occurs.
The motion to adopt the ordinance passed with four votes in favor and one abstention; council directed staff to finalize the ordinance language for clarity and to update billing systems before the next tax cycle.
What this means for property owners: The change will alter how beach assessment bills are calculated based on the assessments provided by Sussex County. The town manager and finance staff said they would publish guidance and notify property owners ahead of the next billing cycle.
