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Rehoboth Beach has joined a growing list of Delaware resort towns to increase parking rates for the upcoming summer.

Rates on 275 meters throughout the city will increase by a quarter an hour this summer, changing from $1 to $1.25, city manager Gregory Ferrese said. The move is expected to bring in more than $20,000 in additional revenue, according to budget documents. The meters are generally coin-operated and located on sidestreets.

When the weather turns warm, hundreds of workers from different parts of the globe descend on coastal Delaware and Maryland in search of jobs and the U.S. dollar.

But this year, as the economic forecast for summer 2009 appears bleak, some are wondering if that may change.

Karen Clark, whose 15-year-old daughter has discovered finding a part-time job isn't easy, hopes it will.

"My daughter started working last summer and she had a hard time finding a job," she said. "Now, I'm thinking that we're going to have these people coming in when we have locals who need the work."

Newark wants to build a $20 million downtown parking garage. Wilmington is looking to spend $30 million to replace 30 miles of aging water mains. And Sussex County would like $14 million to build a science education center near Rehoboth Beach.

All of these projects are among wish lists that governments up and down Delaware -- and across the country -- are preparing to send to the Obama administration under a plan to jump-start the economy by spending about $775 billion on public works.