Brigantine Introduces 2024 Budget

At the March 20th Council meeting, City Manager Tiger Platt introduced the 2024 budget which included a 1.05 cent tax increase.

According to Platt, “The tax increase is a result of rising costs that every municipality is dealing with, mostly due to inflation.  The City has the difficult task of keeping taxes low, while providing valuable services and making meaningful investments in our community.”

The City has approximately $26 million in capital improvements planned for the next six years. 

“While we plan to continue improving our roads, beaches, recreational facilities and public buildings, we will be making a significant investment in our water and sewer systems due to State mandates.” said Mayor Vince Sera.

Based on the 2024 City assessed value, a penny on the tax rate equals $349,538. The proposed local purpose tax rate will be 69.3 cents per $100 of assessed value.  A property with an assessed value of $400,000 will pay $42.00 more this year compared to last year. 

Although this is the third tax increase in 10 years, the 2024 tax rate continues to remain lower than it was in 2014.

Deputy Mayor Karen Bew stated, “We continue to see cost increases in health insurance, solid waste collection and pensions.  Despite these challenges, the City has found ways to balance these increases which minimizes the impact to our taxpayers.” 

Waste collection saw a significant increase in 2023.  The City negotiated a contract with the Atlantic County Utility Authority (ACUA) to lessen the impact by altering the collection schedule.  The ACUA’s rates for trash, recycling and yard waste collection were still considerably less than private waste collection companies.

One of the ways the City saves on employee health insurance is through the Coastal Health Insurance Fund (HIF).   A Coastal HIF is a group of municipalities that collectively negotiate health insurance rates, resulting in lower costs for its members.  

Leveling debt remains a priority for this administration. The City saw a minimal increase in debt of $409 thousand over 2023, which is mostly due to the increase of interest rates on short-term notes.

Last year, the City saw a reduction of over $72 million in debt between 2022 and 2023, due to paying off older debt.  This reduction has resulted in a significant reduction in the City's overall debt putting the City in an excellent position.

There will be a public hearing on the budget at the April 17th Brigantine City council meeting.