By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City’s beach tag sales this summer were nearly identical to the 2022 figure, while parking revenue was up – two key economic indicators that suggest the tourism season was pretty strong overall.
Jennifer McIver, Sea Isle’s chief financial officer, reported that beach tag revenue through September came in at $1.3 million, a slight drop from $1.319 million for the same period in 2022.
McIver said she could hardly believe how close the beach tag figures were for two straight years.
“The city was busy,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “I didn’t notice a difference between last year and this year.”
Year after year, beach tag revenue is a closely watched metric to gauge the strength of the vacation season at the shore.
“I would say that we’re right down the middle – a typical season. It definitely was a typical year,” McIver said of the 2023 season.
Although beach tag revenue fell a little bit in a summer-to-summer comparison, McIver expressed confidence that Sea Isle will make up the difference through its annual sale of holiday beach tags later this year.
Beach tags are required from Memorial Day to Labor Day. However, the city continues to generate revenue in the off-season months through the sale of special, holiday-themed tags during the Christmas shopping season.
Over the summer, Sea Isle sells seasonal beach tags for $25, weeklies for $10 and dailies for $5. Seasonal tags are sold at the discounted preseason price of $20 if bought by May 15.
McIver noted that preseason sales were hurt somewhat by a bout of rainy and chilly weather during the spring. Traditionally, rainy weather and beach tag sales are not a good mix.
This year, Sea Isle helped itself by hiring more beach tag inspectors during the peak summer months, McIver pointed out. The inspectors walked along the shoreline – including the Townsends Inlet section in the far southern tip of the island – to make sure people had their beach tags, she said.
Revenue generated by beach tag sales is an important source of funding. It covers the cost of keeping the beaches clean, collecting the trash, employing lifeguards and hiring summer police officers. The revenue also helps to pay for the city’s beach replenishment projects.
Sea Isle’s beach tag revenue is usually in the $1.3 million to $1.4 million range each year. The city’s all-time record for beach tag sales was set in 2015 with $1,471,321 in revenue.
In another important source of funding, Sea Isle’s parking revenue totaled $299,816 this summer. The figure was significantly higher than the $240,000 in parking revenue that had been projected in the 2023 municipal budget, McIver said.
She noted that 2023’s parking revenue was the highest amount since $315,657 in 2019. The city’s record amount for parking revenue in the last 10 years was $348,386 in 2017.
Motorists pay their parking fees in Sea Isle using the ParkMobile app. The city got rid of its old parking kiosks and meters in 2022 in favor of a cashless payment system.
“I guess people have gotten more used to ParkMobile, because no matter which city you go to, they have it,” McIver said of the app’s popularity at the shore and other locations.
In the meantime, Sea Isle’s residents and visitors don’t have to worry about paying for parking fees or beach tags until next summer. Beach tags are required from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend and parking fees are in effect from May 15 to Labor Day.
