Lavallette Formally Adopts 2026 Municipal Budget With Slight Tax Increase

Lavallette Borough Hall (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Lavallette officials this week have formally adopted the borough’s 2026 municipal budget, demonstrating both the rising costs the town is facing this year, as well as the resilience of its tax base, which continues to grow in value and is able to offset some of the pain that would otherwise be made up in tax increases.

Residents this year will see a 1 cent increase on the municipal portion of the property tax bills, per $100 of assessed property valuation. Virtually the entirety of the increase will go toward a single item: employee health insurance, which skyrocketed by $320,000 over 2025. The penny increase on the tax rate generates $246,000, with the rest being made-up by higher real estate values as well as the utilization of surplus funds to balance the spending plan. Robert S. Oliwa, the borough auditor, delivered the details before the council held a required public hearing and took a final vote to adopt the plan, which had been introduced last month.

Oliwa pointed to Lavallette’s municipal property tax burden for residents – one of the lowest in New Jersey – as being the engine of its growth in terms of investment by both existing owners and newcomers.

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“The present and the future both look good for Lavallette,” he said.

The borough’s total budget for 2026 is $11,113,344 reflecting an overall decrease in spending to the tune of 1.5 percent. For the owner of an average priced residents home, the 1-cent increase on the tax will representing about $87 per year. Spending cuts were achieved through a re-worked shared services agreement that lowered the cost of running the municipal court by about $75,000, as well as a smaller debt service obligation as old bonds have been paid off, according to Mayor Walter LaCicero.

On the appropriations side, in addition to the non-discretional spending such as insurance for employees, $250,000 was budgeted for improvements to the boardwalk. Officials said the appropriation was needed after Lavallette was snubbed by the state of New Jersey, which itself appropriated about $100 million for boardwalk repairs up and down the coast in 2024, but failed to include the borough in its funding plan. Much of the funding, critics said at the time, was directed toward municipalities more politically friendly to Trenton.

Lavallette was able to score additional grants to cover some roadway projects and as well as upgrades for playgrounds and parks, and the borough continues to carry a minimal amount of the debt – far below state-mandated caps. The overall amount of bonding that is outstanding has been decreasing over the last several years by an amount of $400,00 to $600,000 per year.

“We’ve been decreasing our overall debt over the last several years,” LaCicero said.

The budget was adopted with a unanimous vote.