By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Soaring healthcare costs, higher workers’ compensation expenses and rising pensions for police and fire departments have created the perfect financial storm for many of New Jersey’s municipalities.
As a result, they have been raising the local tax rates in their 2023 municipal budgets to pay the higher expenses.
Not so with Sea Isle City, though.
Sea Isle’s $28.5 million municipal budget for 2023 will keep local taxes stable.
“Obviously, we’re all pleased that this is a zero increase budget on the local tax rate, and there’s no doubt that it is always our objective to keep costs down for our taxpayers,” Mayor Leonard Desiderio said in a statement at the March 28 meeting of City Council.
Council voted 5-0 to approve the budget.
Reflecting Sea Isle’s sound finances, the city entered 2023 with a record-high $8.8 million operating surplus, Desiderio said. The city will use $4.7 million of the surplus to help finance the 2023 spending plan, according to a copy of the budget.
Desiderio noted that the city’s strong finances are not just simply a matter of containing costs. He said the budget will continue to provide all of Sea Isle’s municipal services as well as the capital improvements the city is planning without increasing the local tax rate.
“We continue to not only maintain our city, but to enhance it,” he said. “We’ve done all this by careful planning, and by spending wisely. And we’ve done this together – the administration, City Council and the public.”
“I can never say enough about the tremendous benefits of working together; and I truly believe that what we do in Sea Isle and how we conduct ourselves leads to good things for our citizens, including fair, reasonable and stable taxes,” he added.
In 2023, the local tax bill for an average Sea Isle home assessed at $700,062 will be $2,660 annually. When county and school taxes are added in, the total annual tax bill for the same home is about $6,800, said Jennifer McIver, the city’s chief financial officer.
Also underscoring the city’s strong finances, Sea Isle will hold the line on water and sewer rates in 2023 for the 10th straight year.
Leon Costello, Sea Isle’s auditor, said many municipalities are struggling this year under the weight of double-digit increases in healthcare costs, workers’ compensation expenses and police and fire department pensions. Health insurance alone is up by 22 percent, he noted.
Sea Isle, however, has been able to avoid a tax increase with the help of its traditionally frugal budgets, stable finances and a solid tax base. It also has a diverse source of revenue to help fund the budget, Costello explained.
Most of the revenue for the 2023 budget will come from the city’s property taxes. Overall, the amount to be raised by taxation is $18.8 million.
In addition to tax revenue, other major sources of budget funding include revenue from beach tag sales, parking charges and construction code fees.
Beach tag revenue is projected at nearly $1.4 million for 2023. Parking revenue is expected to hit $240,000. For construction code fees, the city is anticipating $425,000 in revenue.
