Burt Dukes Retiring as Finance Director for the City of Rehoboth Beach after seven years

December 19, 2025

When you hear the headline, “Burt Dukes is retiring as the Finance Director for the City of Rehoboth after seven years,” it really does not do his story justice.

Many people who know Burt Dukes know that his story is so much more than these past seven years in the City of Rehoboth Beach. He’s lived/ worked here basically his whole life. While he most recently became the Finance Director in 2018, and that’s where this part of the story ends, there’s so much more to tell.

Burt was born at Beebe Hospital in 1951 and grew up on Stockley Street before it was a paved road. He attended Rehoboth High School (once a K-12 school) from first through 8^th grade, and then attended McDonogh School in Baltimore as a boarder, where he ran track and cross country.

Burt then went on to Randolph-Macon College in Virginia, where he was a political science major, and then attended Rutgers for grad school, studying business.

He worked in accounting before starting a small business with a partner developing and selling accounting software. In 2000, they shifted to government software, “it was an evolving business. So, we needed a tighter focus,” he said.

In 2007, they sold the business to Harris Computer Group. “I had a plan to be an external controller for town governments preparing for audits, and Rehoboth asked for help. So, I started helping them 2-3 days a week.”

In 2018, then-City Manager Sharon Lynn asked him to become a full-time staff member. Since then, he has worked for “a very dedicated staff of people who make my memories the finest. I have really enjoyed the staff, and we have accomplished a lot. We’ve implemented new software, won five budget awards, and our general fund balance has gone from $1M to over $30M.”

He adds that he and the staff made the city’s financial picture and information more transparent, and by allowing people to see the budget reports and auditors’ reports for many years, “that’s a good service to the public.”

Obviously, Burt has deep roots in Rehoboth Beach. Not only did he grow up here, but he bought a house here in 1987, and in the early 90’s, he and his wife Daphne moved here full-time. While he owns other property in town, he’s back on his original street of Stockley. He said of his Stockley Street house, “that was ‘home.” Prior to working for the City, he also served on the Planning Commission for six years.

Over the years, he says that the biggest change he’s seen in Rehoboth Beach (besides the roads being paved!) is that it used to be more of a community of people of all different income levels, and had a stronger sense of community, as a small town where everyone knew everyone. Now, he says most of those families have moved out, and that there are not as many natives here; just a handful of his old classmates still live in town.

He also has become more appreciative of the “off-season” over the years. After his retirement becomes official, he plans to keep busy with other businesses ventures (can’t seem to stop working!), and play tennis, once his knees allow him. He and Daphne hope to do more traveling, in addition to his regular spring training trips to Clearwater, FL to watch the Phillies.

Burt’s friends and colleagues recognize Burt not only as a hard worker, but as a friend and someone they will miss seeing around the office.

“I’ve always appreciated the nights I’d find Burt still in his office, where we’d take a few minutes to catch up about his family he so deeply loves, or talk Phillies baseball and how we thought the season might go,” says Chief of Police Keith W. Banks. “Going back to our years working alongside City Manager Greg Ferrese and Mayor Sam Cooper, Burt has always cared first and foremost about the residents of Rehoboth Beach. He made it his mission to understand every department so he could stay informed, engaged, and always ready to advocate for what was best for this community. Many of us came to know his detailed insights as ‘Burt’s language,’ a roadmap he built for us when all we wanted was a simple yes or no. I consider Burt not only a colleague but a friend, and I know he’ll stay connected to the city he’s served so well long after retirement.”