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Jan. 1-7
Budget Season
As the municipal budget season kicks into gear, property taxpayers may benefit from looking at their entire tax bill rather than focusing solely on the local purpose tax set by their municipality. The property tax rate has three major components and for some a fourth that can be significant.
The three components that drive everyone’s overall tax rate are the local purpose tax for running the municipality, the district school tax and the poorly understood county tax. There are some add-ons that can be worthy of attention. Three towns in the county share a regional school tax, two have separate libraries and thus a separate library tax, those that are part of the county library system have a county library tax and finally there is an open space tax.
All 16 municipalities in the county share these tax rate components but not at all in the same way. The annual Cape May County Tax Rate Summary for all taxing districts lists the rates for each tax and each town.
Towns with high property values get a much higher share of the county tax allocation. In Avalon, the county tax is more than 50% of the total tax rate. Few taxpayers pay attention to the annual county budget process. They hear of an announced county tax rate. In 2023, it went down by 2.5% but that was meaningless in terms of the county taxes a property owner may have to pay. The tax levy from the county varies for each of the 16 towns based on true value of real estate.
The school tax varies by large amounts. In four municipalities – Dennis, Middle and Upper townships and Woodbine – the school tax is by far the biggest contributor to the overall tax bill. In Upper Township, 70% of the overall tax rate in 2023 was accounted for by the school tax.
The local purpose tax rate, what the municipality sets as the levy it needs for operating the town, varies greatly as well in terms of its percentage of the total tax bill. Much of that depends upon the municipality’s access to alternative sources of revenue. Wildwood has the highest overall tax rate of the 16 towns in Cape May County. It also has 54% of that high overall tax rate tied to the local purpose tax levy.
As the budget season progresses, it might be useful to pay attention to what component of the overall tax rate is driving the majority of your tax bill. If you are unhappy, that provides you with a focus for expressing your views.
Reorganizations
For most, but not all, of the municipalities in the county the first week of January is the time for the annual reorganization. It is a time when towns award annual contracts to their professionals in roles like the municipal solicitor, the bond council, the independent auditor, a municipal engineer, and many others. It is also a time when salary ranges for the year are set in many towns, appointments to boards and commissions are made, and newly elected officials are sworn.
This year in Cape May County some of the town reorganizations had interesting subplots. In Wildwood, Ernie Troiano Jr. was selected on a split vote as mayor, a position he held for many years.
Wildwood is now back to having two members of its three-member governing body under state indictment. How that will play out is unclear.
In Cape May, a new city manager was sworn in, the city’s fourth since 2016. The city manager in Cape May is the chief executive of the municipality under the city’s form of government.
Middle Township bid farewell to Timothy Donohue, who elected not to run for reelection in November. The new mayor of the township is Christopher Leusner, the recently retired chief of police whose father once served as township mayor.
Stone Harbor is expecting zoning disputes to mushroom into litigation. At the borough’s reorganization, the council increased the funding for a special counsel who may also be called on to help with the lawsuit filed by the borough’s previous administrator.
Reorganization at the county Board of Commissioners saw the first African American sworn in as a member of the governing body with Melanie Collette. Also, Robert Barr won outright the seat to which he had been temporarily appointed.
Plastic Bag Ban
A Herald story on the Good Deeds Market in Cape May highlighted yet another effort to reduce the amount of single-use plastic that makes its way into our landfills and oceans. The small store makes it easier for locals to take one eco-friendly step by purchasing products without plastic packaging.
As we approach the second anniversary of the state’s ban on the use of single-use plastic carryout bags, polling suggests that a majority of state residents continue to support the measure even though the total level of support has slipped a few percentage points since the ban first went into effect in May 2022. The 61% that supported the ban on single-use plastic bags in 2022 slipped to 56% in 2023.
As one might expect in our partisan world, party identity matters. Self-identified Democrats give the ban overwhelming support, a slim majority of independents continue to support it and Republican support has slipped to 39%.
The new problem, according to the Monmouth University Polling Institute, is that New Jerseyans don’t know what to do with the surplus of reusable bags they have collected.
Happenings
A Del Haven man is the latest individual arrested on child porn charges. The county prosecutor found the increase in such cases this past year “disturbing.”
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that will let 17-year-olds vote in the primaries if they will turn 18 by the next general election. Murphy calls it empowerment. Others might call it going after a demographic that is likely to vote Democratic.
A 30-year-old Woodbine man arrested in Atlantic County is accused of murdering a man on New Year’s Day.
Shivering seniors received a commitment from the county that the Lower Cape Senior Center heating system will soon be repaired.
DRBA approved a 10-year lease with Aramark Sports and Entertainment as the next concessionaire at the North Cape May terminal of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.
A new Avalon restaurant is getting set to open in the borough’s business district. The new Mexican-themed dining establishment will make use of the old Jake’s Place liquor license, which has been inactive since summer 2017.
Those using the Atlantic City Expressway after Jan. 1 saw toll hikes approved as part of the South Jersey Transportation Authority 2024 budget.
The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has proposed treating 1,471 residential municipal acres and approximately 1,500 state-owned acres in Burlington, Cape May, Passaic, and Sussex counties this year to combat the tree killer known as the gypsy moth.
With limited sources of alternative revenue, Middle Township relies heavily on its property tax levy while struggling to keep the tax rate down.
Ernie Troiano and Steve Mikulski sue, seeking clarity over health benefits eligibility. Both are under state indictment for their alleged inappropriate use of the benefits.
A plan for a sports complex at the Cape May County Airport is making headway with the Delaware River and Bay Authority approving a tentative lease agreement.
Spout Off of the Week
Court House – A marriage works best when both spouses give 100% . Maybe if our government worked like that things would be much different. It will not ever be good if one’s always blaming the other. Arguments should lead to answers. For intelligent people at least.
Read more spouts at spoutoff.capemaycountyherald.com.
