Seaside Park Introduces 2026 Municipal Budget; Insurance Costs Drive Tax Increase

Seaside Park’s repainted water tank, May 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)

While implementation of the 2026 municipal budget in Seaside Park is expected to be delayed by the borough council’s decision on Monday to annex the South Seaside Park section of Berkeley Township, the borough’s spending plan largely mirrors those of most other local communities: an increase in property taxes, almost completely attributable to the rising cost of employee health insurance coverage.

The council introduced its 2026 spending plan Monday night, with the budget calling for a reduction in appropriations to $13,494,558 from last year’s $13,678,426. The borough added about $8 million in ratables over the past year, with the amount to be raised by taxation rising to $8,309,818 from $7,959,710 in 2025. The municipal portion of a homeowner’s property tax rate will rise from 0.702 in 2026 compared to 0.677, representing a 3.65 percent increase, or about .02 cents for each $100 of assessed real property valuation.

Councilman William Kraft said the budget was affected by a 22.92 percent increase in employee health insurance costs, a trend reflected in virtually every local municipality this budget season. Official did say, however, that a decision made last year to switch from the state’s health benefits plan to a cooperative Central Jersey Health Insurance Fund did save revenue, as the state’s health plans would have risen by 36.2 percent had Seaside Park stayed with it.

---

Get Daily Island News Updates Your email address:* Please enter all required fields Correct invalid entries

For the owner of a home assessed at $500,000, the local portion of the property tax bill would rise by $125 per year.

The borough is also planning to budget for numerous capital improvement projects this year, including cashless parking kiosks, radio upgrades, a dump truck, re-configuring a tennis court, new street markers, rehabilitation of water wells, and the reconstruction of the municipal marina. Many of these projects, however, are funded through non-tax revenues such as parking fees, marina slip rentals and beach badge sales.

A public hearing and a vote to adopt the budget is scheduled for the May 7, 2026, council meeting, which will be held at 1 Municipal Plaza at 7 p.m.