Maintaining beaches is an expensive task. So is staffing them with lifeguards in the summer months. For years the answer in six of Cape May County’s ocean-facing communities has been the beach tag, a one-day, one-week or all-season pass to enjoy the sand and surf and be protected by a large crew of trained guards who perform more rescues than most people are aware of.
But the way beach tags are used and enforced could change if pending legislation passes in Trenton.
The legislation, introduced by Assemblywoman Margie Donlon (D-Monmouth), prohibits municipalities from requiring beach tags for access to the beach below the mean high tide line for recreational purposes like fishing or surfing. An identical bill in the Senate is sponsored by Vin Kopal (D-Monmouth).
The legislation was prompted by an incident in Belmar, Monmouth County, last August that saw a surfer in a confrontation with police over his lack of a beach tag he did not feel was required. The surfer was charged with disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice and resisting arrest.
The bill was favorably voted out of the Assembly’s Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee on a 4-2 vote, with one of the no votes coming from 1st District Assemblyman Antwan McClellan of Ocean City. The bill in the Senate is still in committee.
The concern among many of the Shore communities is that the bill would create a loophole in the beach tag process that could lead to lost revenue for maintaining and staffing the beaches and create new difficulties in enforcing the beach tag requirement even where it would still apply.
At least one Shore community, Sea Isle City, has voiced its opposition to the legislation. The Sea Isle City Council passed a resolution arguing that the bill might lead to staff needing to follow individuals who say they are only using the wet sand areas. The resolution claims that the legislation will make it “virtually impossible” to enforce beach tag policies and will result in less revenue to pay for beach-related services and maintenance.
The Cape May County communities besides Sea Isle that use beach tags are Ocean City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Cape May City and Cape May Point. The Wildwoods have never required tags for access to the Five Mile Island beaches.
For communities that use beach tags it is a big business. The 2025 budgets of those county towns show the actual amount taken in as beach fees in 2024. The amounts range from $281,000 in tiny Cape May Point to $6.2 million in Ocean City. Sea Isle City took in $1.8 million, and Cape May City, $3.7 million. The two communities on Seven Mile Island saw Avalon earn $1.6 million and Stone Harbor $850,000. For the year the six resort communities took in $14.4 million.
Two of those six towns, Avalon and Cape May City, even established separate self-financing beach utilities, keeping expenses and revenues at arm’s length from taxpayers. Even so Avalon’s beach expenses exceeded the amount earned through beach tag sales, and the borough covered the deficit to the tune of almost $500,000.
The beach tag revenues cover operating expenses for the beaches and not the big-ticket items like sand replenishment. The operating expenses have increased rapidly in recent years. Towns have had to hike wages to get and retain beach patrol staff in a market that has lately become more competitive.
The tags have become such a part of the communities that use them that many hold annual contests where school-age children submit designs for the tags. Some individuals have become collectors.
A clear majority of state residents does not agree with the practice of using beach tags, a recent study found.
The Stockton University study showed 65% of New Jerseyans saying the beach is a public resource that should be open at no charge. Another 30% said that beach tags are necessary to generate the revenue needed for essential beach-related services.
Free public access vs. user fees is a debate that goes on every summer. Critics point to other states like Florida that have no tags for entry to their beaches.
A big objection to beach tags revolves around their cost. Most of those opposed to tags argue that the prices are too high.
In Cape May County full-season tags bought in-season range from $30 in Sea Isle City to $50 in Cape May Point, with three communities at $40, Avalon, Stone Harbor and Cape May, and Ocean City at $35. In four of the towns the day tripper pays $10 for a one-day tag; the two Seven Mile Island communities charge $8.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
