VENTNOR – The Board of Commissioners March 13 introduced its 2025 municipal budget with a 3.19-cent tax rate increase. The increase comes atop a 7-cent tax rate increase last year.
A homeowner with a house assessed at $500,000 will pay $159.50 more for municipal services this year.
Despite a $39 million increase in new ratables, the new local tax rate is $1.2769 per $100 of assessed valuation, up 2.56% from $1.2450 last year. Ventnor’s net valuation taxable is $2,211,322,900.
“This is a period of time where everything is going up,” municipal auditor Leon Costello said.
The city could spend more because the budget comes in below the spending and tax levy caps set by state government. Every penny on the tax rate raises an additional $221,000 in revenue, he said.
The city has a $313,000 increase in the cost of funding municipal employees’ pensions, $270,000 increase in the cost of insurance and health benefits, and a $100,000 increase in the cost of gas and electric. Salaries for municipal employees, including police and fire, increased 4.2%.
Commissioner Lance Landgraf said the increase is lower than last year’s.
“I heard higher numbers before, so I feel we pared it back,” he said.
Costello said that in his 51 years auditing the books of area municipalities, each year they spend more than the year before.
The city used $4.55 million of its fund balance to reduce the increase – about $550,000 more than it used last year – leaving $3.1 million in reserve, but Costello said most of it would be replenished by the end of the year.
Mayor Tim Kriebel said the city should review user fees to ensure they are comparable to fees charged in other municipalities and as a way to prevent additional tax increases.
Commissioner of Finance Maria Mento said much of the increase in operating expenses, such as the police pension amount that’s set by the state, is beyond the control of the municipality. She credited the city for “doing everything right” to attract new investments in the city.
“We are thankful for the development and how the city is looked at in a positive nature. Because of the ratables we have seen this year, we have mitigated this increase to about half,” she said.
A public hearing on the budget will be held 5:30 p.m. Thursday April 10 at City Hall.
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