By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Mayor Leonard Desiderio delivered a largely positive State of the City address that focused on a series of major capital projects ahead, but he also revealed that Sea Isle City will raise the local tax rate in this year’s budget due to inflationary pressures.
Sea Isle was able to go seven years in a row without a local property tax increase as part of its “fiscally conservative approach to budgeting,” Desiderio pointed out. However, the proposed 2024 budget will include a tax rate increase of 4.3 cents in response to higher inflation and mounting municipal expenses, he said.
“Unfortunately, in just the past three years, inflation has driven costs up by nearly 20 percent. The fact is that we’ve tried to hold the line on any local increases, but it is unsustainable if we want to maintain the same level of services. This year, in order to be financially responsible, we must request an increase in our tax rate of 4.3 cents,” he said while giving his address during a City Council meeting Tuesday.
Jennifer McIver, the city’s chief financial officer, said a tax rate increase of 4.3 cents will add an extra $328 in local taxes annually on a typical Sea Isle home assessed at $750,000. Overall, the total annual local taxes on a $750,000 home would come in at about $3,200, she said. That figure does not include school and Cape May County taxes.
Although a tax increase is proposed in the 2024 municipal budget, the city’s water and sewer rates will remain the same for the 11th consecutive year, Desiderio announced.
More details about the 2024 spending plan will be unveiled when Council holds a budget workshop 9 a.m. on March 21 at City Hall. The workshop is open to the public.
In addition to inflationary pressures, the city will also experience higher budget expenses for the fire department, emergency services division and summer employees such as lifeguards, seasonal police officers and Public Works Department personnel, Desiderio said.
The fire department is made up of volunteers, but for the first time in Sea Isle’s history the city will provide round-the-clock, year-round coverage by paying firefighters to be on duty at all hours at the firehouse, the mayor said. Up to this point, Sea Isle had been limiting the paid crews to overnight duty.
Normally, the volunteer firefighters rush to the firehouse from their homes or full-time jobs to battle fires when the alarm is sounded. The plan described by Desiderio for round-the-clock coverage will significantly expand the department’s firefighting capability.
Sea Isle also formerly had a volunteer ambulance squad, before switching to a paid EMS division seven years ago. This year, the city has budgeted for 10 full-time positions in the EMS division, Desiderio said.
He noted that the city has also budgeted “significantly more funds” to pay for lifeguards, seasonal police officers and Public Works employees this summer. He indicated that the city will pay more than the state’s minimum wage of about $15 per hour in order to attract enough summer workers.
“If we want to continue to provide proper public safety and public works services, we must properly fund them,” he said.
He added, though, that 2024 is “an anomaly” from a budgeting standpoint. Already, the city is getting a better idea of its future costs for salaries and wages for city employees through its negotiations for union contracts, he noted.
“With the information we know, and with approval of this proposed budget, our future holds great promise,” he said. “We’ll be able to continue with the provision of all of the services that our residents and visitors expect.”
“With our progress to date on our labor contracts, we’re confident in our future cost projections regarding salaries and wages, which are a major component of our budget,” he added.
Underscoring the city’s financial strength overall, Sea Isle continues to maintain its stellar AA bond rating and is also one of the top communities in the country for discounts offered to local homeowners through the National Flood Insurance Program, Desiderio said.
Neil Byrne, the city’s construction official and floodplain manager, presented Desiderio and members of Council with a plaque from the New Jersey Association of Floodplain Management recognizing Sea Isle’s high standing in the flood insurance program.
Byrne said Sea Isle is just one of 11 towns or cities nationwide to be rated as a Class 3 community by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its flood-protection program, a designation that entitles local homeowners to a 35 percent discount on their flood insurance.
“We’re the first Class 3 community in the state and have been a leader in flood mitigation,” Byrne said in an interview.
A beach replenishment project that will help protect homes and other property across the island is getting underway this month and should be completed in time for the busy summer vacation season.
Originally, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency overseeing the project, was expected to place 252,000 cubic yards of new sand in central Sea Isle from about 29th Street to 53rd Street and another 388,000 cubic yards in the south end of the island from about 73rd Street to 94th Street.
Desiderio, however, announced that the city has just been told that an extra $5 million worth of new sand will be added to the project over and above the original amount that had been proposed.
“This is a great boon for Sea Isle, as these added funds represent as additional amount of sand on our beaches that would fill about 50 football fields four feet deep,” Desiderio said.
He also focused on a multitude of other capital improvements planned in Sea Isle – topped by the new $21 million community recreation center that he described as “one of the most consequential projects in our generation.”
Desiderio expects to sign the construction contract for the project this week, a key step allowing work to soon begin. He said that the date for a public groundbreaking ceremony will be announced shortly. The community center will be built on the site of the former Sea Isle City Public School on Park Road.
Construction is expected to take about a year and a half to complete, which would put the grand opening sometime in 2025.
The community center will be a hub for local gatherings, recreation and leisure activities and special events. Its design reflects its dual use as a community and recreation facility.
Desiderio also touched upon other key municipal projects that the city plans to finish in 2024, including a new dog park, road improvements and construction of handicap-accessible ramps to the Promenade at 51st and 53rd streets.
“The state of our city is as strong as it’s ever been,” he said in concluding remarks to his speech.
