OCEAN CITY — The tax rate in the proposed 2024-25 Ocean City School District budget is not expected to change from this school year, according to a presentation Thursday evening.
The expected tax impact on a home assessed at $650,000 is projected to be $1,294, the same amount in this year’s budget. The tax rate would remain flat at $0.199 per $100 in assessed valuation or $199 per $100,000.
Although the budget is rising, the tax rate is offset by the $214 million increase in total valuation in Ocean City, which is now at $12.774 billion.
School Business Administrator Timothy Kelley, who presented the proposed budget at the Ocean City Board of Education’s meeting March 14, said the tax rate will be the same as the past two years, decreasing from $0.215 per $100 in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school budgets.
The total budget is at $48.2 million with general fund appropriations at $46.2 million.
Over the past few years as a number of local districts have seen their state aid decimated, the OCSD is getting an increase of $231,000 due mostly to a boost in School Choice aid. That is expected to increase from $2.9 million to $3.1 million, a jump of $190,844. Special education aid is going to rise $40,159 while transportation and security aid remain flat. Total state aid is coming in at $4,760,398.
Kelley noted state aid accounts for 10.53 percent of the budget, whereas there are other districts in the state where it accounts for as much as 50 percent and in Abbott districts far higher.
Total revenues in the budget are up more than $600,000 over this year’s budget to a total of $46.2 million. The tax levy is rising nearly three quarters of a million, from $24.6 million to $25.3 million. Tuition from sending districts is up more than $800,000, from $11.5 million to $12.3 million.
The district is raising tuition rates by $1,000 per pupil for first grade through high school for the sending districts, including Upper Township, Sea Isle City and Longport. Kindergarten tuition is rising $1,500 to $15,000 from $13,500 this year.
Tuition is going to be $17,250 for grades one to five, $18,250 for grades six to eight and $17,450 for nine to 12.
There will be no debt service in the upcoming budget, meaning the district is not paying off any debt. In 2022, the district finished the last payments on the $28.5 million bond to build the new Ocean City High School, which opened in 2004. The total project cost was $40 million, with the state kicking in $11.5 million. The annual debt payments on the high school averaged $2.25 million.
Expenses jumped substantially in a number of categories, namely employee benefits, up $1.16 million to $8.5 million, and student transportation, up just shy of $1 million to $1.6 million. Regular instruction rose over $600,000 to nearly $16.4 million.
The administration/curriculum/staff development budget fell about $453,000 to $3.6 million and capital outlay dropped from $1.33 million to $561,000.
Vic Staniec of citizens group Fairness In Taxes thanked Kelley for the presentation and using $650,000 as the value of an average house, a number the group felt more in tune with current prices. In last year’s budget presentation, Kelley used $500,000 for an average price.
A public hearing on the budget will be at the April 25 school board meeting.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff