Wildwood Crest Passes 2025 Budget with Minimal Tax Increase

Wildwood Crest – The Board of Commissioners approved the borough's 2025 municipal budget on March 26, featuring a modest tax rate hike of less than 1 cent. The $31 million budget is $532,000 under the state’s spending cap and $1.3 million below the 2% tax levy cap. It also maintains a strong financial position, with $75 million below the state limit for debt service and an Aa2 bond rating. Municipal auditor Mike Garcia presented the budget, noting that the local purpose tax rate will rise from 0.7150 to 0.7246, a 1.34% increase.
This means homeowners with an average property assessment of $450,000 will see an increase of approximately $43 in their taxes for 2025. The budget reflects a $653,000 spending increase, driven mainly by higher salaries and wages ($418,000), along with rising health insurance costs ($170,000) and pension payments ($82,000). Despite these increases, debt service expenses decreased by $168,000, and municipal sewer costs dropped by $136,000. Wildwood Crest is drawing $4.7 million from its surplus, leaving a balance of over $9.3 million in the account. The total budget for 2025, which stands at $31.16 million, is up from $29.22 million in 2024.