WILDWOOD — Hundreds of frustrated taxpayers filed into the Wildwood High School auditorium July 9 for the public hearing on the city’s proposed 2008 budget.
Although city officials have not yet voted on the introduced budget, the 25.1-cent potential tax has caused public outcry among summer and year-round residents.Members of the public stood in line for a chance to offer their own suggestions on cutting the budget and ask Commissioners what could be done to avoid the hike.
“I think it’s insane,” resident Sandra Richardson said of the proposed budget. Her comment received loud applause from the audience.
Auditor Glenn Ortman said the use of non-recurring revenue, such as land sales and other temporary fixes, has been a problem in Wildwood’s budget since the early 1990s. Mayor Ernie Troiano said that he was willing to use a “Band-Aid,” like a land-sale, until he was able to bring more ratables to town in the form of high-rise hotels.
Troiano said he was negotiating and working with multiple buyers to close a land sale that would result in a much lower tax increase, but was unwilling to disclose details until the deal was done.
For more on this story, see the Herald’s July 16 print edition.
