Middle Carries the Burden of Honor

CORRECTION: This story incorrectly stated that no fees were collected by Middle Township for the inspections related to the construction of the county Municipal Utility Authority (MUA) building in Swainton. Records show that the MUA paid the township $38,056 for various construction-related permits.
COURT HOUSE – Since 2014 Middle Township’s ratable base has remained at roughly $2.7 billion. The county equalization table for 2018 puts the aggregate assessed value of the township at $2,737,848,300.
A look at tax-exempt line items within the township, excluding property owned by the municipality, shows almost $500 million in exempt assessed value.
All municipalities have tax-exempt parcels belonging to schools, churches, non-profits or fire companies. All also have some federal, state or county presence that occupies land that is not taxable by the municipality.
In Middle Township’s case being the county seat adds a special burden. The county’s direct share of the tax-exempt property value in the township is $160 million based on current assessment values.
The township’s geographic centrality within the county also may add to that burden.
The Cape Regional Health System is located in Middle, as is the county’s campus of Atlantic Cape Community College, the two together account for almost $60 million in tax-exempt property. 
Federal and state presence in the township adds to $55 million in exempt property.
These numbers do not include areas which may not be technically exempt from taxes but are protected or environmentally unavailable for development.
The County Issue
On several occasions, Middle Township officials have made the case that the township’s taxpayers should receive more benefit from the role the municipality plays as a host community to county offices and services. 
Taxpayers could have heard this argument being made by Committee member Timothy Donohue during negotiations over changes in how the county animal shelter apportions fees to municipalities. 
They also could have heard it echoed when Mayor Michael Clark and Deputy Mayor Jeffrey DeVico questioned fees charged back to the township by the county Municipal Utilities Authority.
A county seat plays a special role and has a special relationship with county government. What township officials have asked for is greater recognition of that role and that relationship.
Department of Community Affairs Property Tax Information tables show that Middle Township’s position is not unique, nor even as bad as some other county seats in the state.
In Camden, tax-exempt property actually exceeds the assessed value of taxable property. The same situation exists in New Brunswick. In neither of those instances is the county the principal tax-exempt landholder.
The tax-exempt presence of county government also adds to actual township costs. In 2017, the police department made over 300 calls to county properties. Those were direct calls not associated with normal patrol and property checks.
Clark, an over-20-year veteran of the Court House volunteer fire company, said he cannot recall ever seeing the fire company receive payment or a donation from the county in return for the many calls made to county properties.
County government and the MUA are exempt from paying fees for required inspections by the local construction office. 
No fees were collected for the inspections related to the new MUA building in Swainton or the county correctional facility in the Crest Haven complex.
Because of large and complex county construction projects, the township waived fees totaling over $300,000 in 2016 and 2017.
Figures are not normally that high, but they can be.
This is the life of a county seat. The added burden of the county’s presence in the township has to fall back on township taxpayers. At the current municipal tax rate of $0.482, county tax-exempt land would, if taxable, provide $767,116.
Taxes beyond the municipal use would also additionally support the fire districts and the school system.
This is the plight of a county seat. It is also the challenge facing the township’s governing body.
The Challenge
The numbers show the nature of the challenge facing any governing body in the township.
Take, for example, conflicting reports of what might happen to the vacant Kmart store. If, as one report has it, confirmed at one time by a call to the retailer, a Tractor Supply store moves into that space, the land remains as it is zoned, retail commercial space paying all the expected taxes.
If, on the other hand, the county moves county services into that space, as another report states is being considered, the land moves to tax-exempt status.
Middle Township is the largest municipality in the county in terms of land area. U.S. Census data put the actual land area of Cape May County at 251 square miles. At 72 square miles of actual land area, Middle Township is just over a quarter of the county’s land area. 
In terms of population, the township is second to Lower Township. Using current census estimates, Middle Township comprises almost 20 percent of the county’s population.
The township’s municipal use budget, at just under $22 million, must be supported on a ratable base that is less than 6 percent of the county total and it must do that with 18 percent of the aggregate assessed value occupying tax exempt status.
What Can Be Done?
The likelihood is that not much can be done to change the burden the taxpayers of Middle shoulder. Administrator Elizabeth Terenik has made suggestions during public discussions of one or the other situation where Middle Township officials have sought some relief from the county.
She suggested exploring user fees for some services rather than making them fully tax supported. She also posed the question of discussions aimed at “host community fees” or “payments in lieu of taxes” arrangements with the county.
What a county contribution to the expense of township services and/or in recognition of lost tax revenue would mean is a spreading of the expense of the county’s operations in Middle across the larger, and in terms of valuation, often richer municipalities. 
It would mean a sharing of a burden that rests solely with Middle Township taxpayers.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.