BELMAR — The Belmar Board of Education voted to adopt the 2023-2024 budget after a presentation by Business Administrator Michael Bardsley and a public hearing at the board meeting last Thursday.
Mr. Bardsley said “57 percent [of the total revenue] comes from taxpayers. Although it’s not a huge percentage, it is the majority, so that’s one thing we also take into consideration.”
The tax levy in this year’s budget has increased two percent, equaling $187,919, which is the lowest increase rate that the budget has seen since 2020. Mr. Bardsley’s presentation reported that this increase averages to roughly $70 per parcel of land in the borough.
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“Even though we’re increasing the taxes by two percent, the estimated tax rate is going up very little,” Mr. Bardsley said. He said this is because of the significantly increasing home values in the borough over recent years.
The total revenue expected in this year’s budget has dropped 4.5 percent, which is nearly $788,000, and has decreased to $16,715,951. The operating budget revenue, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the total revenue, reflects this with a drop of $84,645.
Government aid is also decreasing, with state aid dropping 5.37 percent and revenue from federal programs dropping $706,731. However, these revenues are still expected to fund roughly 16 percent of the total revenue.
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