Wildwood Approves $25.2 Million Municipal Budget

WILDWOOD – Board of Commissioners held a second reading and public hearing for Wildwood’s 2014 municipal budget during their July 9 meeting.
The annual budget presentation (above), given by Wildwood Auditor Bob Schwarz, highlighted aspects of the budget.
According to Schwarz, the local purpose tax rate is increasing by 17 cents, 10.1 cents of that is directly related to revaluation.
“You had to have this revaluation,” said Schwarz. “You’ve been hurt badly over the past several years through tax appeals.”
Schwarz indicated that with the revaluation, the appeals that are coming through this year are drastically reduced, which should be beneficial for the city going forward.
Out of the remaining increase, 6.4 cents is related to public safety for police and fire salaries with contractual increases and new hires.
“I think it’s a foregone conclusion that that is a major consideration that the city has and it’s an area that has to be addressed,” said Schwarz.
The dollar amount shows an increase of $1,041,342, up 6.2 percent, while the city’s debt service decreased by 4.2 cents between 2013 and 2014.
Schwarz presented a breakdown of the budget by departments with Public Safety receiving the most at $7,928,800 and Revenue and Finance coming in second with $6,424,081.
Schwarz names the loss in ratables as the biggest factor for the city. The city’s value decreased by almost $122.5 million over the last year.
“There’s no way to avoid that,” said Schwarz. “It’s there; you did the best thing you could do and had a revaluation to start to stop that bleeding.”
Schwarz also noted that this year’s budget is $2.3 million under the spending cap, and $4 million under the tax levy cap.
While discussing sources of revenue, Schwarz mentioned the $156,500 coming in from beach services, such as beach (use) fees and various programs.
“The city is doing a great job in hunting for revenue,” said Schwarz.
However, he pointed out that the city is not receiving additional revenue from the state.
“You’re flat lining,” said Schwarz. “If you’re not getting money from the state, you only have a couple other sources; money you generate within the city or taxes. It’s a simple equation.”
Schwarz also mentioned that the water and sewer utility are under control and are self-sustaining, meaning they don’t have an impact on the tax rate.
Police and Fire Presentations
Directly following the budget presentation, Commissioner Peter Byron introduced public safety presentations to explain the increases in that area.
“One of the things that I think all of us hear is the cry for more public safety,” said Byron. “The biggest reason is that there’s been a large decrease in our police manpower over the years and I think there’s a correlation between the decrease in police and the increase in crime.”
Wildwood Fire Chief Dan Spiegel explained the current structure of the fire department, which includes one career division and two volunteer stations. Currently, there are 16 full-time firefighters, an 11 percent decrease from previous years.
There are currently about 50 volunteers, but most of them are social members, meaning they help with fundraising, PR activities, etc. There is an 83 percent decrease in volunteer firefighters from previous years.
“Years ago there was a waiting list to become a volunteer firefighter,” said Spiegel. “Times have changed, economics have changed. A lot of people are working multiple jobs and we can’t get the volunteers.”
Hoping to gain volunteers, $10,000 was spent on a recruitment program by one of the volunteer stations for pamphlets, media and school presentations. Only two volunteers were gained from that effort.
Spiegel also noted that Wildwood’s Fire Department is fire and emergency medical services. Through a shared services program, Wildwood assists North Wildwood and West Wildwood on more serious calls such as structure and vehicle fires, as well as provides EMS services.
The fire department also works closely with the Beach Patrol and assists with water rescues and emergencies.
Since 2010, there has been a 25 percent increase in calls for fires, a 16 percent increase for EMS incidents and a 40 percent increase in inspections.
Spiegel proposed hiring three firefighters to fill positions which have been left vacant due to retirements. “These are not new hires,” said Spiegel. “This is putting back what has been in place since 1979.”
According to Spiegel, staffing has not increased since then.
Spiegel cited state and national standards as being a big part of the reason for hiring.
“Currently, we do not meet standards,” said Spiegel. “Although these standards aren’t required by law, God forbid someone gets hurt or killed. We will be sued, they will reference the standard and we have to follow it.”
Spiegel also noted that increased public safety will be better for the city in the long run.
“When you look to buy a house you look at public safety and school systems for your kids and you want to make sure you provide a safe environment for them,” said Spiegel. “We want to go back to 1979 staffing levels, which are still low, but we want to maintain what we have.”
Wildwood Police Chief Steven Long mirrored Spiegel’s concerns but with regard to Wildwood’s Police Department.
According to Long, in May 2009, the department had 46 officers and now has 31, a 33 percent reduction. He noted that the department is not fully staffed 24/7 and that an average day consists of one supervisor and two to three patrolman on duty.
Since 2010, the police department has seen a 19 percent increase in calls for service, a 19 percent increase in arrests, and a 47 percent increase in indictable crime, which are more serious crimes such as burglaries, drugs, etc.
According to statistics from the New Jersey State Police, Wildwood’s crime index rate per 1,000 residents in 2012 was 151.8 compared to neighboring North Wildwood with 93.8 and Wildwood Crest with 50.4.
Long broke down the expense of the department to the taxpayer; about $703 a year at about 27 percent of the city’s budget.
“The quality of life issues that we would like to be able to respond to more if we had more enforcement, we just don’t have the manpower or time to do these things,” said Long.
“We need to do this to move the city forward,” said Commissioner Anthony Leonetti in regard to the increase in public safety. “It has to happen or we’re going to lose it; we’re going to go backwards.”
Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. and Byron made closing statements following the presentations. Byron addressed the comparisons between Wildwood and the other island municipalities, stating that their net values are almost double that of Wildwood, which accounts for the difference in taxes.
“They don’t have to be looking for as much new income as we do because they got the ratables, they got the value that we don’t,” said Byron. “If we don’t take back our city, which these guys, our commission, have made a commitment to do, our ratables are going to continue to drop.”
Troiano expressed concerns regarding the increased drug activity in Wildwood to show support for the increase in public safety.
“The drug activity that moved into this community was unbelievable,” said Troiano. “I was born and raised in this community. I never in my lifetime expected this town to turn into what it has turned into but it’s not going to last this way.”
Troiano also wanted to make it clear that the Board of Commissioners did not have anything to do with the school tax.
“This commission has no chance of reviewing or adjusting the school board budget,” said Troiano. “Only if it goes over a certain limit, then it comes to us for a vote.”
Public Hearing
During the public hearing for the budget, two residents made statements.
Kathleen McCullough spoke against the tax increase.
“These people are getting killed,” said McCullough. “All towns should be the same in the Wildwoods.”
Wildwood business owner Wally Lerro spoke in favor of the increased police presence.
“We need more police and that’s the end of the story,” said Lerro. “You owe it to your citizens to protect them.”
His statement was followed by applause from the audience.
Adoption of Budget
The 2014 municipal budget passed its second reading and public hearing and was approved by commissioners.