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By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – The Board of Commissioners April 8 introduced the city’s $32.6 million budget with no increase in taxes. However, contract negotiations with two bargaining units could result in future tax increases over the next several years, commissioners said.
The budget includes a $262,004 or 1.13% increase in the tax levy, bringing it to $23,446,412. But there will be no increase in the local purpose tax rate thanks to a 1.18% increase in the city’s total assessed valuation. The city added $24 million in new ratables, bringing the city’s total assessed valuation of real property to $2,065,706,400. The city will use $3 million in surplus funds to balance the budget, leaving $2.8 million in reserve.
A homeowner with a house assessed at $250,000 will pay $2,837 in local taxes.
Employee salaries, benefits and pensions account for 62.5% of the budget or $20.36 million. The city will pay $2.8 million in municipal debt service, and $1.3 million in school debt service. All outstanding debt accounts for 12.8% of the budget.
Auditor Leon Costello said both of the two city budgets came in with a zero increase, but the county tax rate will not be disclosed until the county determines federal reimbursements for COVID-19 expenses.
Although there is no tax rate increase this year, commissioners said it is likely taxes will increase in the future.
Mayor Beth Holtzman thanked department heads for keeping the budget tights so taxes would be flat, despite COVID-19.
“This year’s great,” she said, “but the next couple of years may not be that good and a lot is contingent upon labor contract negotiations” with the city’s police and fire unions.
Because there is no longer a state imposed 2% salary cap, labor negotiations could go to arbitration, which does not bode well for the municipality, she said.
“If they get what they are asking for or are not as reasonable as we would like, I want the taxpayers to realize there will probably, without a doubt, be an increase in the next few years in our budget,” Holtzman said. “There’s no way, on God’s green Earth, we are going to be able to balance the budget based on the requests of two unions.”
“We (negotiated) a really strong contract with all our unions five years ago,” Commissioner Lance Landgraf said, but future years will be a struggle. “The 2% cap that I thought was reasonable enabled us to do that. Now that that is gone, I don’t see any way we are going to be able to keep salaries and benefits to something that is reasonable.”
“We are in this together,” Commissioner Tim Kriebel said. “There are a lot of moving parts. Our team is analyzing the numbers from every direction, but the reality of the math doesn’t support the 4%, 4.5%, 3.7% increases that are being asked for in years to come.”
He said the city is seeking other sources of revenue, or reducing costs, such as through a shared court system.
“Employees need to be a little taxpayer sensitive,” Holtzman said. “Based on what I am hearing on what is being asked, there is no taxpayer sensitivity going on, which is a little disturbing to me. We’ll see how it all works out.”
A public hearing on the 2021 budget will be held during a Zoom meeting, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 13.
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