Middle Approves 2023 Budget

Middle approves 2023 budget

Total tax bill rises 2.95% as Township takes steps to contain rising costs

Middle Township property owners will see a 2.95 percent increase in their total tax bill for 2023. A property with an assessed value of approximately $400,000 will see an annual increase of $225.74 ($56.43 per quarter). The total property tax bill constitutes the municipal levy, school tax, county tax, fire district budget, county library tax and county open space fund. Middle Township’s municipal levy makes up approximately 26 percent of the total tax bill.

The 2023 municipal budget is slightly less than the 2022 total, and salary and wages are down year to year. The Township has worked to reduce costs by privatizing emergency medical services, consolidating police dispatch services into the County Dispatch Center, implementing a hiring freeze, reducing professional fees and operating costs, and entering a shared services agreement with North Wildwood for construction official services.

Middle Township continues to hold the line on debt service. In Cape May County, Middle pays a smaller percentage of its annual appropriations in debt service than all but Woodbine and Cape May Point.

The Township continues to see a revenue shortfall amid a slow recovery from the impacts of COVID shutdowns. While the State of New Jersey continues to hold billions of dollars of COVID funding in its surplus, in 2023 Middle Township will not receive the nearly $1 million in COVID relief funding that helped balance the municipal budget in 2021 and 2022.

Middle Township is not immune to the historic increase in inflation that began in 2021. The cost spikes impacting the 2023 budget include a 12 percent increase in state pension contributions, a 23 percent increase in state health benefits costs, and double-digit percentage increases in utility costs for fuel, electric, natural gas and internet services. Per-employee costs have risen because of contractual obligations and the need for the Township to remain competitive in attracting and retaining a well-qualified and committed workforce.

All these factors have contributed to the 4.76-cent increase in the local tax rate. Middle Township’s local property tax burden remains one of the lowest in the State of New Jersey and the annual cost per resident for all municipal services amounts to $767 per year or $2.10 per day. The Township will see the levy increase for just the fifth time in the last 12 years.