City Hall in Sea Isle City
City Council introduced a $34.4 million budget that proposes a small tax increase in Sea Isle City to help pay for higher municipal expenses driven up by inflationary pressures.
As proposed by Mayor Leonard Desiderio, the 2026 budget would raise local taxes by three-quarters of one cent.
“The budget funds all of the services our citizens have come to expect. It represents an excellent financial position, and the administration recommends its introduction,” Desiderio said in a statement during the City Council meeting Tuesday.
Council voted 4-0 to introduce the budget. Councilman Ian Ciseck did not attend the meeting.
Jennifer McIver, the city’s chief financial officer, said the owner of a typical Sea Isle home assessed at $750,000 would pay an additional $55 in local property taxes annually for a total of $3,393.
County and school taxes are separate from local property taxes. The owner of a $750,000 home will pay an estimated $6,984 in 2026 for combined local, school and county taxes, McIver said.
McIver attributed the city’s tax increase to inflationary pressures on an array of municipal expenses. She cited increases in healthcare, insurance, utility bills, tariffs and the higher cost of products in general.
This is the third year in a row that local taxes would go up in Sea Isle, although 2024’s increase in taxes was considerably higher at 4.3 cents. The tax increase in 2025 was a 1.8-cent hike.
Although a tax increase is proposed in the 2026 municipal budget, the city’s water and sewer rates will remain the same for the 13th consecutive year, the mayor said.
Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio says the budget funds all of the services "our citizens have come to expect."Council and the mayor’s administration collaborate on the budget before a final vote will be taken on the spending plan by the governing body on April 14. Council has the power to make spending cuts or other revisions if it wants to pursue that option.
Desiderio and City Business Administrator George Savastano characterized Sea Isle’s financial standing as particularly strong overall. The city entered 2026 with a record-high budget surplus of more than $9 million. Of that surplus, $4.5 million will be used to help fund the 2026 budget.
“This is a very good budget. It has a record surplus,” Savastano said.
The surplus is a key factor that Wall Street companies such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s consider when they evaluate the soundness of Sea Isle’s bonds.
Sea Isle currently holds a high Double-A bond rating. Desiderio said that all of the city’s financial indicators show that Sea Isle will maintain or possibly increase the Double-A rating.
One of the most important aspects of the budget is the funding for a variety of services and activities at Sea Isle’s new $21 million community recreation center. The grand opening for the building is scheduled for Saturday March 28, at noon, Desiderio announced.
Other key expenses include the city’s public safety services. In addition to having a full-time police department and emergency services department, the city will once again provide funding in the 2026 municipal budget to boost the fire department.
The fire department is made up of volunteers, but Sea Isle has provided round-the-clock, year-round coverage by paying firefighters to be on duty at all hours at the firehouse.
With firefighters stationed at the firehouse at all times, they are able to respond to fires and other emergencies much faster.
