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By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – The Board of Commissioners Thursday, April 9 introduced its $31.6 million 2020 municipal budget with a 1.9 cents tax rate increase.
The budget was introduced by title and was posted on the city’s website. A presentation and public hearing will be held 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14.
The budget appropriates $31,609,764 for municipal purposes, down $409,201 or 1.3% from last year, with $23,184,407 of it to be raised through taxation. The budget is $363,549 under the state-imposed 2% tax levy cap.
The city had a $13 million increase in ratables for a total assessed valuation of $2,041,541,000. The city applied $2.7 million in surplus funds to help the budget, up $100,000 over last year, and maintains $3.2 million in reserve.
The new tax rate will be $1.137 per $100 of assessed valuation. A homeowner with an average assessment of $303,758, will pay $3,454 for municipal services, up $57.69 over last year.
According to Chief Financial Officer Albert Stanley, the increase is a result of a partial payback of a $5 million Community Disaster Loan provided to the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
The FEMA disaster loan allowed the city to continue providing municipal services and stabilize finances as revenue decreased and property owners struggling to get back into their flood damaged homes were unable to pay their taxes in the aftermath of the storm.
Officials were hoping to have the entire emergency loan forgiven, but the city was informed last year that only half would be forgiven with the remaining $2.5 million due to the state over four years.
For this year, the city will pay $442,768 in principal and $201,114 in interest on the loan.
“If we didn’t have the loan payback, we would have been fine and maybe even had a slight decrease,” Mayor and Commissioner of Finance Beth Holtzman said.
The current coronavirus pandemic could result in a loss of revenue from beach badges, metered parking and recreational programs. However, if federal grant funds become available to municipalities, the city should carefully consider how it uses the money, she said.
“With this current crisis, if FEMA does something in the future for cities, it could be a Trojan Horse,” she said.
Holtzman said financial programs instituted since the “Imagine Ventnor” slate took office in 2016, and “living within our means” have helped stabilize the city’s finances.
“If it were not for the loan payback, which was approved prior to us taking office, we would have been OK,” she said.
Police, Fire, Beach Patrol and other employee salary line items are up according to contracted agreements and staffing changes. As employees retire, they are often replaced with new hires who earn considerably less than the retirees. Stanley said the city budgeted at the full salaries and that any savings incurred if employees retire would be put into the city’s surplus account to help with future budgets.
Police Department salaries and expenses are up $63,121 and includes the purchase of a police cruiser. Fire Department salaries and expenses are up $120,650 and Beach Patrol salaries and expenses up $35,875, including equipment purchases for the beach.
Building and Grounds expenses are up $103,800. Stanley said several Public Works employees are out on medical leave and had to be replaced with part-time employees, accounting for some of the increase.
The city’s waste collection contract is up $56,624, mostly to cover the cost of purchasing trash receptacles for every household and an increase in tipping fees. Information technology costs are also up $44,090 due to the way Microsoft figures site licensing costs and to purchase upgraded PCs.
Stanley said the city’s bond principal is down about $300,000 since the city refinanced some of its outstanding bonds and temporary notes, while debt service increased somewhat on new bonding for the city’s aggressive capital programs.
“We cut wherever we could,” Stanley said. “If we cut any more, we would have gotten hit again next year. We don’t want to do that, especially since we don’t know what our revenue stream will be like as a result of the coronavirus crisis.”
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