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Wildwood Crest adopts $17.44 million 2025 budget with minimal average tax increase
Summary
The Wildwood Crest governing body adopted a $17,441,245.72 municipal budget for 2025, keeping spending and tax levy well below state caps; the auditor said the change equals roughly $43 a year on an average $450,000 assessed property and is driven mainly by salary, insurance and pension increases.
The Wildwood Crest Borough Commission adopted its 2025 municipal budget on a unanimous roll call after a public hearing on the plan.
Municipal auditor Mike Garcia told commissioners the budget remains below both state caps: about $532,000 under the 3.5% spending cap and roughly $1.3 million under the 2% tax levy cap. Garcia said the borough is increasing spending net of grants by about $653,000, primarily for salary and wages (approximately $418,000), health insurance (about $170,000) and pension costs (roughly $82,000).
Garcia said the tax impact is small: "It equates to about $43 a year on your average assessed property," he said, citing an average assessment of roughly $450,000. He added that lifeguard payroll is the largest single personal-cost item in the budget, totaling about $800,000 to cover roughly 110'11 lifeguards.
During the public hearing residents sought clarity about beach-related spending. Garcia responded that beach maintenance staffing is budgeted at around $50,000 for seasonal employees and about $110,000 for other maintenance (porta-potties and related services), and confirmed lifeguard pay is drawn from the general levy.
The commission first authorized reading the budget by title and then, after closing the hearing, adopted the budget inclusive of $17,441,245.72 for municipal purposes by unanimous vote. The adopted budget will proceed to posted notice and the standard state steps required for municipal budgets.
