{"id":6265,"date":"2021-02-25T02:19:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T07:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=6265"},"modified":"2021-02-25T02:20:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T07:20:01","slug":"ocean-county-tax-rate-to-decrease-a-half-penny-ratable-base-fully-recovered-from-sandy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2021\/02\/ocean-county-tax-rate-to-decrease-a-half-penny-ratable-base-fully-recovered-from-sandy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean County Tax Rate to Decrease, Ratable Base Fully Recovered From Sandy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ocean<\/a>

Ocean County Administration Building (File Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ocean County\u2019s tax ratable base has skyrocketed since Superstorm Sandy decimated the Shore area in 2012, leading the Ocean County commissioners on Wednesday to propose a budget that will cut taxes by a half-cent per $100 of assessed real estate value.<\/p>\n

The county government, one of the scarce few in New Jersey to attain a triple-A bond rating, will introduce a $470,356,177 spending plan that will pay down debt while funding improvements to roads and county facilities, officials said. The budget will be supported by a tax levy of $365,212,639. The budget adds about $20 million in appropriations compared to 2020\u2019s $450,793,747 plan, but manages to reduce property taxes by a half-cent thanks to an increase in the county\u2019s ratable base.<\/p>\n

The county tax rate will decrease from 33.7 cents last year to 33.1 cents this year. At its peak in 2016 as the county was paying down debt from storm recovery while battling reduced property values, the rate rose to 35.3 cents, but the commissioners pledged to reduce the rate once the values recovered.<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s ratabale base has now completely recovered from Sandy and has surpassed its pre-Sandy level. In 2014, the county recorded just $90.8 billioni n ratables. This year, Ocean County\u2019s real estate is worth $107.2 billion, above the $100.5 billion it was worth in 2012, recorded before the storm hit. The county\u2019s all-time high for its ratable base came in 2009, reflecting the end of the mid-2000s real estate bubble, at $109 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank our department heads, because they really do hold the line on spending,\u201d said Commissioner Gary Quinn, who is serving as director of the board this year. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see, as Commissioner Kelly showed, how our tax [base] has gone up so much since Hurricane Sandy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly, who has shepherded the county\u2019s annual budget since the death of longtime budget guru Freeholder John C. Bartlett, presented the plan at a work session meeting of the board Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought we might be in desperate shape for the budget this year, but we had assistance and we\u2019ve been able to help our residents and get grants to our businesses,\u201d said Quinn.<\/p>\n

The 2021 spending plan calls for $84 million to be spent on capital projects, such as road repaving and work on infrastructure. Some of that money will be derived from state and federal grant funding. Roads and bridges, specifically, will see a $45 million investment while $2.1 million will be dedicated to upgrades at the county\u2019s Vocational-Technical school facility in Jackson. Another $17 million has been earmarked for stormwater runoff, drainage and park renovation projects, as well as efficient energy upgrades for county buildings.<\/p>\n

Ocean County College will be supported by a $16,331,991 appropriation while the Vo-Tech school district will be funded with $19,963,522 from the operating budget. The county will spend $77.5 million on public safety to run the prosecutor\u2019s office, sheriff\u2019s department, jail, 911 facility and juvenile services. Meanwhile, social servies will be funded $19.4 million through property taxes and $38.4 million through federal and state allocations. Senior Services will be funded through a $3 million appropriation.<\/p>\n

The county has, for years, tried to maintain its triple-A bond rating from financial agencies. This year, in spite of increase costs to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the county received a glowing report from Moody\u2019s Investors Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cOcean County benefits from a very large tax base and a small debt burden,\u201d the company\u2019s report said. \u201cThe county is currently experiencing a sustained financial economic rebound from the damage experienced by Superstorm Sandy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s budget remains well within the state\u2019s 2-percent cap on spending and tax increases.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ocean County\u2019s tax ratable base has skyrocketed since Superstorm Sandy decimated the Shore area in 2012, leading the Ocean County commissioners on Wednesday to propose a budget that will cut taxes by a half-cent per $100 of assessed real estate value. The county government, one of the scarce few in New Jersey to attain a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ocean-county-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_5237-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}