CAPE MAY CITY – The city has recognized the service of resident Dennis Crowley as Crowley steps down from a five-year stint as chair of the Municipal Taxation and Revenue Advisory Committee, with Mayor Zach Mullock reading a proclamation in his honor at the City Council’s April 15 meeting.

The proclamation said: “Mr. Crowley has dedicated countless volunteer hours to the city.”

Crowley brought to his efforts a background in government policy at both the state Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Education. He also served as a high school teacher and an adjunct faculty member at the Rutgers Graduate School of Public Administration.

MTRAC has been a uniquely valuable source of citizen input and practical experience for the governing body. What Crowley and the other members of the committee did, and will continue to do, is provide the city’s policymakers with a broadly experienced and hard-working think tank capable of analyzing issues and setting that analysis in a framework for decision-making.

In 2021 MTRAC issued to the City Council what it called Recommendation No. 1, which was concerned with increasing the occupancy tax. The recommendation was eventually accepted, the municipal portion of the tax was raised to the state-allowable limit of 3%, and today, in the 2025 municipal budget as introduced, the revenue from the occupancy tax sits at more than $3 million, one of many cushions against increases in the local purpose tax rate. The rate has remained flat for six years.

Since then MTRAC suggestions to the council have dealt with topics that range from stipend policy to utility cost recovery to cannabis. They have also included recommendations that improved city regulations with respect to mercantile license requirements and short-term rental fees.

Not all of the recommendations from the committee have been accepted and acted upon, but many have been codified and implemented by the city.

Mullock said Crowley will be missed as chair, but that as anyone who knows him knows, he will not be far away.

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