Lauren Read, who has long served Lower Township as its chief financial officer, has been appointed the new CFO of Cape May.

The appointment was formalized at the Cape May City Council’s Oct. 7 meeting. To facilitate the transition, departing Cape May CFO Kevin Heine will remain as assistant municipal treasurer for a period extending no longer than Nov. 13.

Read is familiar with Cape May’s finance office, where she served as interim CFO following the departure of CFO Neil Young, who took the CFO position in Middle Township. Young was replacing Middle CFO David Elliot, who had resigned after less than a full year in the post.

In this shuffle of county CFOs, Heine was hired in Cape May in February 2023. He came from a position as a financial analysist in the private sector and had no formal experience as a New Jersey municipal CFO. While in Cape May he had been doing the required coursework to be certified as a municipal CFO.

Read arrives with more than two decades of experience as a municipal CFO and with all the licenses and certificates required.

Cape May City adopted a $28 million general fund budget in May, with an additional $13.7 million spread over three self-financing utilities. Property taxes contribute almost $11 million to general fund revenue.

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