CREST HAVEN – Cape May County’s proposed $224.2 million budget for 2025, which calls for a 4.5% spending increase over last year, was introduced at the Feb. 25 county commissioners meeting.
The budget brings a tax decrease for the fourth year in a row. The new tax rate is 0.169 cents, versus 0.188 cents in 2024, a decrease of a little more than 10%.
Despite the lower rate, residents should expect to pay roughly the same in taxes for county purposes as they did last year. County taxes are based on the equalized valuation of a property, which falls closely in line with its actual market value. That means if a person’s house is worth more, there might not be any tax savings despite the reduced rate.
Property values continue to climb in the county; this year’s budget cites a 10.8% value increase since the 2024 budget. The average home in Cape May County is now worth $534,400, according to the most recent data from the county Tax Office.
Some of the increase in the overall budget figure is due to personnel costs associated with health care. Preventing the increase from rising more dramatically is the county’s self-funded health plan, which increased just 3% in cost compared to an average increase of 16.25% for municipalities that use the state health-care plan, said Brittany Smith, the county’s finance officer.
The county commissioners touted a “three-peat” tax decrease, but 2025 is actually the fourth year in a row the tax rate went down. The first of those four years of tax decreases, in 2022, saw a reduction so small – 0.17% – that it was not noted at the meeting.
The county’s overall tax levy – the amount of money raised by taxes – for 2025 is less than 2024’s by about $671,000. The last time the tax levy decreased was in 1993.
Still, the county has more money to spend this year. That’s in part because of strong interest earnings on county investments. Another factor is that the county chooses to draw money from its long-term pool of capital funds.
Expenditure from this fund goes largely toward infrastructure projects like bridges and roads. A standout expense this year is a new justice complex in Middle Township that will provide a new home for the county Prosecutor’s Office, with costs expected to land between $22 million and $24 million. Another is superstructure rehabilitation for the aging Grassy Sound bridge, which connects North Wildwood and Stone Harbor.
The county adds to its capital fund each year to save for long-term projects. That money can be used as down payments for bigger projects or to pay for smaller ones outright. The county will put $17.4 million into its capital fund this year, a 0.20% increase over last year and the same approximate amount it has designated each year since 2022. In 2021, the county allocated nearly $6 million. In 2017, the figure was just $3 million.
Right now, the county’s capital fund sits at $24 million, County Administrator Kevin Lare told the Herald in an email.
Lare said that bridges are the primary reason for the increase. Nearly every bridge in Cape May County is due for replacement or a major overhaul. With improvements long-deferred, the costs are starting to come all at once.
The county expects a 5% increase in its surplus, $21 million versus $20 million in 2024. A healthy surplus means more money can be put into the capital fund. The surplus can also be used to keep taxes down and to make up for gaps between revenues and expenses.
Infrastructure projects are financed in a number of ways: They can be paid with money from the annual revenue, from money drawn from the long-term capital fund, and by bonding for it. Projects can also be paid for using a combination of these three, and other, methods.
In his prepared message about the budget at the commissioners meeting, Commissioner Director Leonard Desiderio outlined some of the key infrastructure projects the county will fund through various means in 2025:
- Marshallville Road (Upper Township) bridge replacement – roughly $1 million.
- Graven’s and Leonard’s Thorofare (Middle Township) emergency encasements – $1.5 million.
- Countywide bridge pile encasements – $1.5 million.
- Hand Avenue bridge (Middle Township) replacement – $3 million.
- Mill Creek and Upper Thorofare (Lower Township) railings and pedestrian access – $5.3 million.
- Grassy Sound (Middle Township) superstructure rehabilitation – $12 million.
- 13 miles of countywide maintenance paving – $12 million.
- 12.9 miles of road projects with hybrid funding – $23.6 million.
- Justice complex (Middle Township) – $22 million to $24 million.
This year the county will spend roughly $30 million to pay off its debt, an $8 million reduction from last year. A reduction in debt spending can happen for multiple reasons, including a large amount of debt being retired.
Desiderio told the public at the commissioners meeting that the county is in a strong financial position overall and can bond for as much as $500 million if need be.
“Although we would never incur that much debt all at once, this ability demonstrates the sound fiscal condition of the county as well as our ability to fulfill our commitment over the next several years to effectuate our bridge replacement plan, while also being able to fund other priorities for the benefit of the public,” he said.
The budget will be presented again at the March 11 commissioners meeting, with a tentative adoption date of March 25.
Contact the reporter, Collin Hall, at chall@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 156.
