By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Mayor Leonard Desiderio, delivering a buoyant State of the City address, pronounced Sea Isle City’s finances as being in the best shape ever and also revealed that the municipal budget this year will hold the line on taxes.
“I say this now with the utmost confidence – today the state of the city is better than ever. Our financial position is the best it has ever been,” he said Tuesday while giving his annual address to City Council.
In a further dose of good news, Desiderio disclosed that the city’s 2022 operating budget will not have a tax increase. The city will also keep water and sewer rates the same for nine years in a row, he said.
“The budget I will present you with today includes no tax rate increase,” he told the Council members. “We are starting the year with an available surplus of over $8 million. That is 10 times the amount of surplus we started with in 2009, in the midst of the country’s great recession. There will be no increase to our water and sewer rates for our ninth consecutive year.”
Details of the 2022 spending plan will be unveiled during a budget workshop held by Council at 9 a.m. Thursday at City Hall. The workshop is open to the public.
Underscoring Sea Isle’s strong finances, Desiderio said Sea Isle accomplished the budget without any one-time revenues and with no assistance from funding it received from the American Rescue Plan Act, the federal stimulus bill that helps communities recover from the pandemic.
Instead, Sea Isle intends to use its federal stimulus funding to help finance a series of flood-mitigation projects to help protect the low-lying island from stormwater, the mayor said.
Desiderio said flood protection remains one of the city’s top priorities. To that end, Sea Isle is hoping to secure a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help pay for construction of a new stormwater pumping station in the flood-prone area between 44th and 47th streets.
The city is also in the design phase for another pumping station to alleviate flooding in the area between 42nd and 44th streets, Desiderio said.
“In addition to these projects, we’ll be aggressively pursuing joint flood mitigation projects with the county to address several other areas in the city, which have been identified in our master drainage plan,” he said.
Desiderio also used the State of the City address to tout a number of community projects that were completed recently or are in the planning stage, including a proposed $20 million community recreation center.
In the past year, the city completed a series of significant road projects, continued to make improvements to the water and sewer system and began a dredging program to clear muddy sediment from lagoons and channels that are used by summer boaters and commercial fishing vessels.
Projects on the horizon include the city’s first dog park proposed in the north end of town, improvements to the public restrooms on the Promenade and an upgraded radio system for police, first responders and the Public Works Department.
Meanwhile, a $20 million bond ordinance to fund the proposed community center was given final approval Tuesday in a 5-0 vote by Council.
The Council members did not comment on the funding package. No members of the public commented, either.
“Seeing no comments, we’ll assume the public is happy with this,” Council President Jack Gibson said.
Approval of the funding plan is a key step that will be followed later this year by final designs for the project, the award of a construction contract and a groundbreaking. Construction is expected to start around September and take an estimated 18 months to complete, which would mean the community center would be ready for the public sometime in 2024, city officials say.
Desiderio has repeatedly characterized the project as a much-needed amenity that has broad community support and will serve as one of the city’s centerpieces for decades to come.
In December, he organized a town hall meeting to give the public a detailed presentation on the building’s cost, tax implications and amenities. The meeting was attended by more than 100 residents and allowed the city to collect public feedback from the community. Other public meetings and presentations were held or made about the community center project in the last three years.
“I’ve said in the past that the best plans evolve from true citizen engagement, and that has been the case for this project,” Desiderio said. “As a community, we’ve done our due diligence. The plans have been reviewed and modified several times, and it’s time to move forward.”
“This is a facility that will serve our city well and help to ensure we provide the best community services, and I’m proud of how we’ve all worked together to get to this point,” he added.
City officials say the community center would have only a “minimal impact” on local taxes. Leon Costello, the city auditor, has estimated the project would cause local taxes to increase about $90 annually on a home assessed at $1 million.
The building’s proposed design reflects its dual role as a community center and recreation facility. There would be a large gymnasium, indoor walkway and workout space for recreation. The building would also include space that local community groups could use for meetings, events and other activities.
Parking would be built both underneath the community center and next to it at ground level. The building itself would be constructed above flood levels to protect it from coastal storms.
Plans call for demolishing the city’s former public school at 4501 Park Road to make room for construction of the community center. The new building would occupy the block bordered by Park Road, Central Avenue, 45th Street and 46th Street.
