Belmar Mayor Outlines Plans For Municipal Complex

Mayor Matt Doherty has unveiled plans for a new Belmar Borough Hall that will be part of a private-public partnership that redevelops a block of the borough.

This development will have no significant impact on the school district in Belmar, Doherty wrote in a Facebook post. But it will be a major benefit to our community, he said.

For reference, he said, the development at 800 Main Street has 34 apartments with no children in the school system. In addition, 1000 River Avenue has over 100 units and only a handful of school children.

The reason why is because these developments are not designed for families, heh saud, but rather for young people starting out and empty nesters. Single family homes are more designed for families.

"As mayor, I would never advocate for a major single family development because it would have a negative impact on the school district as evidenced in other towns in NJ," he said. "I have two children at Belmar Elementary School now (one graduating) and will have another entering in next year into pre-K. I think you would have to go far back into Belmar’s history to find another mayor who had as much of a personal vested interest in the school district as me."

Doherty said the idea that the school system should garner more money from redevelopment projects fails to understand that the school district is budgeted to receive financial assistance from the state in the amount of $1,037,000 for the 2018-2019 school year. That is a 6.3 percent increase form 2017-2018 school year.

At the same time, ghe school population has decreased over the past few years. Meanwhile, the municipal government receives no financial assistance from the state," he said.

"In fact, we have not received assistance from the state in years," he said. "So while the school has the ability to receive increases in state aid, the municipal government has none and must rely on its own effort to generate additional revenue outside of property taxes."

In addition, he said the municipal government has a great working relationship with the school administration.

"We pay for several services (police, DPW) that other school systems are financially responsible for," he said. "Trying to drive a wedge between the municipal government and the school district over money is a mistake in my opinion."

So while there will be no negative impact to the school district, he said, this development will be of major benefit to the town by providing housing, providing a new town hall and police department, providing a new modern gymnasium, providing a new parking garage and generating revenue in the form of an annual PILOT (Payment in lieu of taxes).

"And all of this will be done a zero cost to taxpayers," he said. "Just like the other successful development projects completed during my tenure as mayor, this one will help keep property taxes flat because of the PILOT (we are the only town in NJ to have NO tax increase in 8 years) while improving our Main Street that ultimately increases property values for our residents."

"While I am stepping down, I do hope my successor Brian Magovern, and the rest of the council, continues to work well with the school administration, continues to keep taxes in check, and continues to make improvements to our community."

Belmar photo