BERKELEY – As news spread of South Seaside Park leaving Berkeley, people asked what this will do to taxes and services.
The area of town is just north of Island Beach State Park. The residents there petitioned to leave Berkeley. Recently, they won their court battle.
Now, Seaside Park, their only real neighbor, has to decide whether to let them join. If Seaside Park declines, then nothing changes.
Mayor John Bacchione brought up the issue at the latest Township Council meeting, noting that it went all the way to the Supreme Court.
“We’ve gone as far as we can go,” he said. If Seaside Park absorbs South Seaside Park, “there is a question of assets we’ll address at a later date.”
For example, there’s a former real estate building that has been a satellite office for people to do township business.
He has said in previous interviews with The Berkeley Times that SSP makes up about 10.43% of the tax revenue for the township. That tax revenue would have to be made up somewhere.
During the hearings, township financial officials gave testimony that if SSP left, the rest of Berkeley’s residents would see an average increase in taxes of $147.63 a year – based on 2017 numbers.
An expert hired by SSP said mainland taxes would increase an average of $35 a year, again in 2017 numbers. They said back then that SSP residents would see their taxes decrease by 40% if they joined Seaside Park.
The court had said that some degree of cost savings would be found in Berkeley by eliminating certain summer auxiliary police positions and other services that would no longer be sent to the beach community.
General finances were addressed at the most recent Township Council meeting. The mayor said that the administration and council worked to reduce costs this year and future years. They have shopped around for health insurance. They introduced robocans to reduce worker’s compensation claims on sanitation workers injuring themselves by picking up garbage. The deductible on worker’s comp claims is $50,000.
There are no new jobs, but officers have been replaced.
Business Administrator Jay Delaney said that capital spending is down.
Capital projects are funded by taking on debt. When one year’s debt is retired, then it is replaced with roughly the same amount. This lets a town do big ticket projects while only making payments and paying interest. By reducing capital spending now, officials hope to reduce bonded debt for years to come.
A few residents brought their concerns to the Township Council during the meeting. One resident, from Holiday Heights, questioned whether the town – or a restaurant in town – will lose a liquor license.
Towns are only allowed a certain number of liquor licenses based on their population. If Berkeley is losing residents, they could theoretically lose a liquor license. This is significant because establishments that sell liquor pay a substantial amount of money to the town for this license. Losing one could mean a loss of revenue that would have to be made up some other way.
Township Attorney Lauren Staiger said that de-annexation is new territory and they are still learning what the results will be.
A Pelican Island resident said she was concerned that there would be less services for her area of town.
Pelican Island is the small portion of land just over the Tunney-Mathis Bridge on Route 37 from Toms River to Seaside. The land itself is split between Berkeley and Toms River.
Without South Seaside Park to anchor services all the way over there, she was worried that there won’t be police and other services available to cover that small section of just a few homes.
Several members of the governing body assured her that as long as they remain Berkeley residents, they will continue to get Berkeley services.
“We work for Berkeley Township residents,” Bacchione said. “We will share information when we learn about it. We’re all in this together.”
The resident also had concerns about AirBnBs in the neighborhood. These can turn into party houses, upsetting the quiet families.
Township Attorney Lauren Staiger said that the town is working on ordinances to address this issue.
