OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City School District is expected to introduce its 2024-25 budget next week with a tax levy increase of about $500,000.
District Business Administrator Timothy E. Kelley provided a budget update to the Board of Education on Feb. 22, saying it still is a work in progress.
“We are anticipating that state aid figures for the year will be released late next week and are still finalizing various budget components,” he told The Sentinel the following day.
Kelley told the board that school and departmental budgets had been reviewed, enrollment analyzed to determine tuition figures and health benefits costs estimated. He planned to meet with building and district administrators to determine staffing requirements.
The district was awaiting Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget address to learn state aid amounts.
The district’s $45.2 million proposed budget for the 2023-24 had a tax levy of $24,608,896 — up about $500,000 — and called for no tax increase. The city’s increasing ratable base helped keep the tax rate at 19.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Kelley said the tax on a $500,000 home would be $995.
The tax rate has held steady for years now after dropping from 21.5 cents in 2021-22, while the total assessed value of the island’s taxable properties increased from $12.122 billion to $12.557 billion over that time.
The tax levy for 2024-25 is expected to be $25,101,074. Potential tuition revenue is up about $500,000 to $12 million. Early figures for state aid anticipate a loss of about $190,000 to $1.4 million, while potential school choice revenue is pencilled in at $2.9 million.
The total budget is expected to be down about .2 percent. It rose 1.82 percent for 2022-23 and just .32 percent for the current year.
Available banked cap has increased for this budget cycle to $190,996 after dropping to zero last year. The district had $1,010,778 in the 2021-22 budget, dropping to $329,811 in 2022-23.
The board is expected to introduce the budget at its meeting March 14 and adopt it in April.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff