Petition claims OC residents overcharged on taxes

Residents who feel the town of Ocean City has been over-charging them on taxes for a number of years say they handed over lawsuit documents to the city clerk Monday night.

The group called “Ocean City taxpayers for justice” claims that the town government has been abusing the Constant Yield Tax law. The group claims the abuse has led to Ocean City taxpayers paying 40 percent more in property taxes than they should have.

The group tells 47 ABC they submitted a petition to the city council with 1,500 signatures on it, asking the council to give residents the right to vote on the tax rate.
The groups spokesman, Tony Christ, says the council voted 7-0 not to honor the petition and instead take it to court to fight it’s legality.

Christ says he filed the lawsuit because he believes the people have a right to vote when it comes to their taxes.

“We promised 1,447 people they’d have a chance to vote on it. We didn’t even know how they’d vote when they signed the petition,” Christ said. “They asked for it to be put up for a public vote and we’re going to continue to do our best to see that they’re able to do that.”

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan declined to comment at Monday night’s council meeting. He said the city solicitor would first have to review the documents before he could comment on them.