CAPE MAY – The City Council has adopted a $39.9 million budget for 2024 with no local tax increase. The local purpose tax rate will remain at $0.361.

The general fund portion of the budget was $26.8 million. The city’s three self-financing utilities complete the budget, at $7.6 million for water and sewer, $4.2 million for the beach utility and $1.3 million for the tourism utility.

The general fund portion of the budget relies on tax revenue for only 40% of total projected funds. That is the lowest ratio of tax dollars to total general fund budget revenues in the county.

The city entered 2024 with a general fund surplus of $14.6 million. The budget makes use of $5.9 million of that surplus to offset taxation.

The use of the surplus, along with an increase of $1.1 million in local revenues, allowed general fund budget appropriations to grow by $2.6 million with no impact on the tax rate.

Auditor Leon Costello told the council that the city is in strong financial shape.

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.