BERKELEY – The Seaside Park Council will vote on whether to annex a neighboring portion on Berkeley Township on Monday, March 30.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Borough Council meeting room at Sixth & Central Avenues. Expecting a large crowd, the borough will post instructions at seasideparknj.org on how to watch the meeting from home.
For many years, a group of South Seaside Park residents have been trying to leave Berkeley. They feel that since they live in the area between Seaside Park and Island Beach State Park, that they have more in common with that area. Plus, they have said that a majority of Berkeley’s resources go toward the mainland residents.
The courts ultimately decided that SSP has a right to leave, and allowed them to petition their neighbor to take them in. Seaside Park hired Government Strategy Group to create an impact study. This group also held a meeting to elicit feedback from residents.
Two-thirds of the Borough Council members would have to agree to the annexation, said Jean Cipriani, the special legal counsel retained by the borough.
The vote is expected at the council meeting. At 7 p.m., the workshop meeting begins, which is when officials discuss the issues they are going to vote on. It is immediately followed by the regular meeting. All of this is open to the public.
According to estimated tax bills provided by Government Strategy Group, the average homeowner in Seaside Park would see a decrease in the amount of 8-9% if South Seaside Park was annexed. There are many caveats with this figure, however.
The impact study is 293 pages. A quote from this document was picked up by The Asbury Park Press and then shared by NJ.com: “If annexation proceeds, Seaside Park residents may see an average tax decrease of 40-51% depending on property class, while South Seaside Park residents would see similar reductions. However, this outcome assumes $8.98M in debt assumption (recommended scenario), $670K in one-time transition costs, and hiring 13 new employees over 12-18 months, and is impacted by school funding and regionalization laws and developments among other factors.”
These figures have been challenged by Berkeley officials.
The study saying that residents would save 40-51% percent on their taxes is wrong, Berkeley Mayor John Bacchione said. He’s concerned that Seaside Park residents – and their elected officials – are not being provided accurate information upon which to make their decision.
“They weren’t given the true facts,” he said.
Seaside Park government officials have been cautioned by their legal counsel not to comment on the annexation question publicly or even privately.
