Ocean City Council Introduces Adjusted Budget With Smaller Proposed Tax Rate Increase

Ocean City, NJ -- Ocean City Council introduced a budget on Thursday night that was slightly higher overall than the draft budget Mayor Jay Gillian proposed about a month ago, but also has a lower tax rate increase.

The $75,081,291.53 budget introduced on Thursday night carries a tax rate increase of about 9 tenths of a cent, meaning the owner of the average $500,000 home in Ocean City would see a $48.75 annual increase in taxes.

The $74.2 million draft budget included a 1.1 cent tax increase that would’ve included a higher increase in annual taxes.

The library budget once again played a factor, Ocean City Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato explained. During its budget process, the library came to the conclusion that it could provide a higher return to taxpayers.

Where it originally believed it could provide a return to taxpayers of about $153,000, some adjustments made during the process allowed it to increase that return to $347,666. It will also pay $241,217 in contracts and services.

The total it can give back to the City is about $590,000.

There was some question about how much the library would be able to give back after there was a decrease in the e library’s reserve as the result of a state law that was passed a few years ago.

There were also some salary and wage adjustments in the introduced budget, and a state-issued $10,000 grant for trash and recycling that includes a $10,000 cash match.

Last year, the City received $1.6 million in grants, and so far this year, that total is $427,000.

Ocean City received $2 million in FEMA reimbursements related to Superstorm Sandy that will go through the operating budget, and the City remains compliant with both the spending cap and the state’s 2 percent cap.

The public hearing and final vote on the budget will take place on April 28.