PETERSBURG — Township Committee approved its municipal budget March 25, calling for a $301,980 increase in the tax levy and a 1.4-cent increase in the municipal tax rate.
The tax levy is up 5.7 percent to $5,618,158 for 2024, while the tax rate, or how much the township charges for each $100 of assessed property value, is up 5.1 percent to 29.4 cents.
For a home assessed at $300,000, this year’s increase amounts to about $42 for a total of $882 per year. That does not include the school district, fire district or county tax rates.
The municipal tax rate rose 2.8 cents to 28 cents in 2023, 3.3 cents to 25.2 cents in 2022. Including this year’s increase, it is up 7.5 cents, or 34.2 percent, since 2021.
The amount of surplus used to fund the budget is up $400,000 from $1.755 million to $2.155 million, leaving $2.9 million in reserve, up from $1.8 million.
Anticipated local revenue is expected to drop $324,510 to $1,535,000, while state aid is up $249,448 to $6,969,459. Uniform construction code fees are expected to drop slightly to $225,000.
Other revenue, including receipts from delinquent taxes, equal a little more than $1 million.
That all amounts to the total budget of $17,601,348.
Auditor Leon Costello said the township is $750,000 below the tax levy cap, meaning it is taxing residents less than it is allowed, and $580,000 under the spending cap, meaning it is spending less.
“Ratables have increased slightly, which is a good thing, and revenues are up. There are no one-timers, no gimmicks,” Costello said.
The township has 7,047 taxable properties valued at $1,912,437,800, with an average ratio of 68 percent of true value.
It has 63 full-time employees and 101 part-time employees with a total personnel cost of $7,437,788, of which $1,139,922 is the township’s share of health benefits.
Mayor Jay Newman thanked the township’s professionals.
“They’re the ones that put this together,” he said.
He credited Township Administrator Gary DeMarzo with creating a salary matrix that has stabilized pay increases.
“That has really helped us out,” he said, noting legal bills are down through the efforts of the administrator and clerk’s offices.
Newman also outlined the numerous shared service agreements the township has formed to save money, listing dispatch service with Ocean City, court with Dennis Township, public works with Corbin City, EMS for Strathmere with Ocean City and the tax assessor.
“This is all due to teamwork in Township Hall, with professionals inside and outside Township Hall,” Newman said. “Nobody likes paying taxes, but we’ve got it pretty good here.”
“I would like to say that it’s a good, solid budget, paying down our debt service, allowing for the future, and I’d like to thank everyone for the time they put into it,” Committeeman Curtis Corson said.
Deputy Mayor Kim Hayes said it was a group effort.
“I think everyone talked to their department heads and really looked at it and made sure it was as lean as it could be,” she said. “I think a lot of the work we have done over the last few years to pay our debt service — our surplus is up, our ratables are up — has created some stability.”
No members of the public commented.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff