CAPE MAY – Cape May City Manager Michael Voll delivered his 2022 budget proposal to City Council Feb. 22. The budget calls for an increase in spending, no increase in local taxes, and no increase in user fees for the water/sewer utility or beach tags.
The total overall budget for the city is proposed at $33.2 million, with a general fund budget of $21.7 million, the water/sewer utility at $7.3 million, the beach utility at $3.1 million, and the tourism utility at $1.1 million.
Voll’s $21.7 million operating budget for the city represents an increase over the $20.8 million budget in 2021. Voll said the additional $916,488 in spending can be covered by the growing revenue stream, which includes the newly authorized increase in the occupancy tax and the transient accommodation tax.
In a banner year for tourism in 2021, the city was able to add nearly $1.5 million to its surplus. Voll said his budget for 2022 should allow for a continued end-of-year addition to the surplus of at least $850,000 and possibly more.
Voll said the budget anticipates 124 full-time employees, 10 year-round, part-time employees, and 212 seasonal employees in various positions ranging from lifeguards and beach taggers to special police officers and additional court personnel.
Voll highlighted the role of the city’s various interlocal agreements in providing revenue streams for city services. Voll said the city provides coverage to West Cape May and Cape May Point for policing and emergency medical response, along with municipal court and construction office services. The water utility also distributes water to those communities and the Coast Guard Base.
Summarizing some of his goals for the year, Voll touched on a widening of the Promenade, implementation of a public address system and cameras along the entire Promenade and beach, complete restoration of the Allen African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, initiating the design of a new police station, placement of new public restroom facilities adjacent to Convention Hall, and starting the transition of the city vehicle fleet to electric vehicles where practical.
Each of the city’s three self-financing utilities also sees an increase over 2021 in Voll’s new budget. The utilities are supported through user fees, which remove some of the expense burdens from the taxpayers.
In 2021, Cape May’s general fund budget depended upon tax revenue for just over 50% of the total projected spending. Miscellaneous revenue streams from sources like parking, the occupancy tax, lease and rental contracts, and the interlocal agreements, along with the transferring of legitimate expenses to the self-financing utilities, allow for the reduced taxpayer burden.
Voll noted that the effort is ongoing “to better allocate expenses to the utilities.”
Cape May’s Municipal Taxation and Revenue Advisory Committee has been instrumental in several initiatives that have raised non-tax revenue.
Mayor Zack Mullock said that the details of the budget package would be available to the public by March 15, the scheduled day for the budget introduction.
The city anticipates a public hearing on the 2022 budget April 19, when a vote to adopt may also be taken. The dates are subject to change.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
