As the City of Rehoboth Beach completes major capital investments in our Water and Wastewater utilities over the coming year, we need to reevaluate the rates paid by City property owners — rates that are currently higher than what our neighbors in Sussex County, North Shores, and Henlopen Acres pay for the same services, despite purchasing them from the City.

As Mayor, I would transition to a “cost-plus” rate structure for Water and Wastewater fees, so property owners pay the City’s actual cost to operate these utilities, plus a small administrative fee — not more.

Two years ago, I ran for Commissioner after the City raised taxes and fees unnecessarily, the result of a broken and inaccurate budgeting process. My primary initiative was transitioning the City to multi-year forecasting, and earlier this year we completed a 4-year operating plan and 5-year, $54M capital plan. I still have concerns about the accuracy of that capital plan, but we must continue building on this progress.The City has a significant backlog of initiatives including stormwater master plan, commercial code updates to streamline permitting, Clear Space, technology updates and likely more demands given current events.