Zero Tax Rate Increase In 2022 Ocean City Budget

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Thanks to increased revenue than what was budgeted last year, Ocean City officials announced a proposed $88.8 million municipal budget with no increased tax rate at Thursday night's City Council meeting.

Ocean City's Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato and City Auditor Leon Costello gave a presentation at the meeting detailing all aspects of the budget and the city's finances.

Real estate revenue has grown over the past year, as has tourism, rebounding from a pandemic slump, Donato said.

Donato said last summer's increased tourism led to increased revenue for the city coming out of Covid, meaning there should be no increased tax rate this year. Donato said that the last year was "a tremendous rebound year." The budget surplus for 2022 is a record $10.4 million.

Donato said that it is ideal to use half of the surplus for the next year and half to keep in reserve. $5 million will stay in reserve unless needed and another record $5.4 million was written into the budget.

Donato said that the average property owner with a home assessed at about $650,000 will pay $3,068 annually in local taxes, not including school or county taxes.

The Council and mayor will now negotiate the budget, which is expected to be formally announced at the April 7 meeting. After this, there will be a public hearing and the Council will vote on the final budget some time in May.