OCEAN CITY — While property values for Ocean City did increase slightly when the results of the latest reassessments were announced last week, the resort lagged behind much of the rest of the state in terms of gains on the residential side and saw a slight decrease on the commercial side.
The State Department of Assessment and Taxation (SDAT) last week announced the results of the triennial reassessment of residential and commercial real estate values across the Maryland and the news was particularly good statewide. Each year, about one third of the residential and commercial properties around the state are reassessed and assigned new values used to determine property tax amounts.
This year, using the revolving geographic formula that divides Worcester County into three relatively equal parts, all of the residential properties in Ocean City were reassessed, while commercial properties roughly north of 25th Street were reassessed. Because of the sheer volume of commercial properties in Ocean City, the south end is separated and included in another reassessment group in the interest of keeping the process relatively equal.
Statewide, residential properties saw their values increase by an average of 7.5%. In Ocean City, the residential properties reassessed saw their values increase by a modest 3%. Over in Wicomico, the value of residential properties reassessed came in at nearly 12%, or significantly higher than the statewide average. Only Washington County in western Maryland saw an average increase lower than Worcester on the residential side this year.