Get “The Wrap,” our take on the news of the week, in your inbox every Tuesday. Sign up at: https://capemaycountyherald.com/newsletter-subscription/
Oct. 7 to 13
Universal Pre-K Boosts Parent Income
Researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research say that enrolling a child in a universal pre-K program increased parents’ earnings by 22%. Universal pre-K is a policy that aims to provide publicly funded preschool education for every child. The study says this increase was shown to persist over a six-year period. However, the authors argue that pre-K had limited benefits on children’s test scores, academic progression or attendance from kindergarten through eighth grade. The research concludes that each dollar spent by the government on pre-K programs produces a financial benefit for families but is not a driver of benefits to students.
The study really sees universal pre-K programs as a labor market policy rather than an educational benefit. According to the National Center for Early Education Research, the percentage of New Jersey 4-year-olds in preschool education is 33%, higher than Pennsylvania and Delaware but less than Maryland and New York.
The research is really mixed on the educational benefits of pre-K programs. According to a researcher at Georgetown’s Center for Research on Children, the various studies show a “big bounce” from pre-K in the short run, followed by disappointing results on standardized tests in the longer run. In the very much longer run, recent research says that pre-K students are more likely to go to college within two years of graduating from high school.
Much of this research focused on small populations of students who entered pre-K programs long before universal pre-K was a policy objective. No one is sure if the newer, larger programs will produce the same results.
What is known is that pre-K programs have a positive impact on family budgets. Parents can increase earnings without the cost of child care.
When Middle Township Superintendent David Salvo used this argument during a forum on the school district’s $26.5 million bond issue referendum, property owners in attendance did not think taxpayers should cover child care costs so some families could earn more. In New Jersey, state funding for pre-K is substantial, but Middle Township was confronted with the need for expensive renovations to create classrooms so the pre-K program could expand. The voters said no.
FEMA Maps Badly Out of Sync
Megastorms are devastating areas deemed at low risk for flood damage. Major rain events are catching many American homeowners without the proper insurance coverage for recovery.
The guide many Americans use for determining their flood risk is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps. The maps were intended to designate areas where high-hazard risks required homeowners to buy flood insurance. Used more broadly as a gauge to flood risk, the maps are being seen as badly out of sync with actual risk. They do not focus on the dangers of rain-caused flooding at a time when rainstorms are being supercharged by climate change.
A very recent Bloomberg Green study shows major discrepancies between FEMA maps and areas hit by Hurricane Helene flooding. FEMA admits that the maps are designed to focus on river and coastal flooding rather than extreme rainfall.
About 4% of Americans carry flood insurance policies. The percentages are much higher in coastal zones, but they drop off dramatically inland. Private companies have sprung up offering their own flood maps. Floodbase, a recent startup, performs flood analysis and offers parametric (specific risk-based insurance with triggers) flood insurance.
FEMA is engaged in an effort to update its mapping, which will include integrating climate change projections into its models.
Home Insurance Rates to Rise in 2025
While electricity pricing is getting a great deal of attention of late, the home insurance policy that Americans have depended on for peace of mind in case of disaster is becoming prohibitively expensive, if a homeowner can even find a policy.
Catastrophic damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton will add to the problem of homeowners insurance, and not just in Florida. It is a story we have visited before, but it just keeps getting worse. Moody’s says private market insurance losses to just Helene could run between $8 billion and $14 billion.
Major insurance firms like State Farm and Allstate will no longer issue new policies in California. Florida is seeing some property owners rely on much more expensive last-resort insurance from state sources. In North Carolina, companies are asking the state for premium rate hikes as much as 42% on average.
Accelerated risks due to climate change are not the only factors driving rapid increases in home insurance rates. Inflation is a key factor. According to Verisk, a risk analytics firm, the cost to replace homes and businesses is creating a growing exposure for insurance firms.
Add to this the fact that people are electing to move into rather than out of high-risk areas. In the past decade, the population of high-risk counties is growing faster than that of low-risk counties. Property owners appear to have an appetite for risk when selecting a place to live.
Should we worry in New Jersey? Absolutely. The Garden State is not seeing the same pressures on premiums that are creating market disruptions in Florida or California, but looking forward to 2025, some homeowner insurance companies in the state have requested significant rate hikes in 2024.
Keystone Insurance requested a 28% increase and was granted 18%. Palisades Property and Casualty asked for a 34% increase and was granted 14%. New Jerseyans are not likely to see the steep premium hikes some areas of the country are, but rising rates are becoming the norm rather than the exception even here.
Two dozen housing industry leaders, including the National Association of Home Builders, is urging Washington to consider reforms to keep homeowners insurance affordable.
Happenings
*U.S. Senate candidates Curtis Bashaw, a Republican, and Democratic Rep. Andy Kim sparred on issues ranging from abortion rights to immigration policy in the first of their three scheduled debates on Sunday evening, Oct. 6.
*The Stone Harbor Borough Council is moving ahead with a study of the pros and cons of establishing a stormwater utility, having allocated up to $375,000 for that purpose in its budget.
*The aquatic world came to life for students from six Cape May County middle schools as they netted fish, tested water samples, identified shellfish and learned how to spot whales as part of a field trip to the Nature Center of Cape May, which overlooks Cape May Harbor.
*Legislative districts located away from New Jersey coastal areas, along with party affiliation, are two of the barriers to garnering legislative opposition to proposed new regulations that will affect development in the coastal areas, speakers at a town meeting in Erma said.
*The Middle Township Committee is supporting the state Department of Transportation’s plan to lower the speed limit from 50 to 40 miles per hour on Route 147 from Ocean Drive to the North Wildwood-Middle Township Corporate Line.
*The Middle Township Committee has approved the signing of a letter of intent with a home builder for the potential development of just over 100 acres of empty land in the redevelopment zone along Indian Trail Road.
*Rep. Jeff Van Drew has asked the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to launch an audit of Atlantic City Electric to find out why electricity bills have doubled, tripled and, in some cases, quadrupled and quintupled for customers.
*In response to a proposed 17% increase in premiums, Sea Isle City is pulling out of the State Health Benefits Plan for its employees, Mayor Len Desiderio said at the Oct. 8 council meeting.
*Parole for the man convicted of killing Lower Township Police Officer David C. Douglass Sr. in 1994 has been put on hold pending approval of an out-of-state parole plan.
*More than 150 golfers descended on the Cape May National Golf Club in Erma Oct. 4 as the Atlantic Cape Community College Foundation’s annual Scramble ‘FORE’ Scholarships Golf Tournament celebrated its 20th anniversary by raising a record $75,000 for student scholarships.
*Former Stone Harbor Administrator Robert Smith is seeking to compel the deposition of Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour in his litigation against the borough, claiming that the borough has engaged in an “unwarranted attempt to obstruct plaintiff’s legitimate efforts to depose” the mayor.
*Cooper University Hospital-Camden Senior Vice President and Chief Regional Officer Christine Winn sees Cooper University Hospital-Cape Regional as becoming a training hospital. To accomplish this, the hospital will focus on recruiting staff – doctors, nurses, lab techs – who are qualified to teach the next generation of medical professionals.
*The PJM Interconnection, an interstate electricity grid operator, has announced it is delaying its next set of electricity capacity auctions for six months in order to craft reforms for its capacity market.
*The Wildwood Crest Planning Board has approved the renovation of a three-story building at 5611 Pacific Ave., the site of a former deli and residential units.
*On a recent Atlantic City Electric bill sent to a customer, almost 30% of the portion designated the delivery charge has nothing to do with delivery. In fact it is made up of five different fees with names that make understanding what the customer is paying for difficult. The Herald takes a look at those five fees.
Spout Off of the Week
Wildwood Fire Department goes above and beyond no matter what. Thank you everyone for what you do every day all day.
Wildwood
