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VOL. 15 NO. 5

I APE MAY COUNTY

WEEK OF JANUARY 30 TO FEBRUARY 5.1980

TV

LISTINGS

A

PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY THE jsEAWAVE CORPORATION. P.O. BOX 0, AVALON. W-l. 08203

County Budget 325.6 Million

Ratables Gain More

Than Taxes, Rate Dips

By William Sturm Jr. COURT HOUSE - For

1980. the total county budget is $25,550,230 compared to a 1979 budget of 123,064.628, an increase

of $£485,602 or 10.8%. The amount of monies to

be raised by property taxation for support of the budget is $15,429,821. compared to a 1979 total of $13,935,174; an increase of

$1,494,647 or 10.7 percent. The total amount ol

county ratables for 1980. upon which the county equalized tax rate is based, is $3,494,816,194; compared to $2,937,727,869 for 1979, an increase of $557,088,325 or a

16 percent increase. This total reflects property reevaluation and new construction for 1979 in Cape May County. THE COUNTY equalized tax rate for 1980 will be 44.16 cents per $100 of assessed value for 1979, a decrease of 3.32 cents or seven percent. This will mean for a home assessed at $50,000, the county tax for 1980 will be $220.80, compared to $237.40 last year. This figure will vary depending upon the ratio of assessed value to true value in each of the county’s 16 municipalities, as determined by the

County Board of Taxation The amount of revenue other than property taxes in the 1980 Budget is $10,120,409 or 39.6 percent of the total. The county closed out 1979 with a record high surplus balance of $3,576,930 compared to a 1978 surplus' balance of $2,533,000, an increase of $1,043,930 or 41.2 percent. This increase is due to the outstanding, record high, interest earned on deposits of county monies by the Treasurer s Office which totalled $818,000 in 1979 plus increases in revenue by many of the county

NEWLY PLANTED dune grass is examined by Avalon Public Works director Dave Carrkk. The grass and snow fencing help protect the highest oceanpolnt dune area In South Jersey.

THE DUNE protecting South Cape May Meadow has been breached many times by the sea. Looking south from Sunset Blvd. and Bayshore Rd.. one sees a swath of several hundred feet in the protective barrier, only a couple hummocks of grass-covered dune remaining at the left. Between the roadway and duneline, several hundred yards away lies trapped sea water from the last storm or spring tide.

'The exceptionally high interest rates for mortgages have severely curtailed the amount of new construction in Cape May County in the second half of 11)79 and there is no relief in sight for 1980. ’

departments and more sophisticated management techniques by county government in general THE ECONOMY of Cape May County has an important effect on the county budget. Any economy which s seasonal in nature, as we have in Cape May Countj, places a severe S rain on the services such i welfare and health and the support services related thereto. The exceptionally high interest rates for mortgages have severely curtailed the amount of new construction in Cape May County In the second half of

1979 and there is no relief in sight for 1980 County government has many of the same problems that taxpayers have with their own family budgets We face fuel and energy costs that in many cases have doubled in the last two years despite energy conservation programs. Double digit inflation strains the buying power of the county The present ongoing union negotiations and sometimes legitimate demands of county employees all serve to increase the cost and constrain the delivery of

county services to the public 1980 COULD very well be the year when the 'lump comes up '' When the five percent CAP I^aw was enacted in 1976, almost all governing officials at the county ^nd municipal level welcomed and accepted the principle and intent of the law and firmly believed that the state ad.ministration and legislature would closely consider any bill or new directives which mandated new costs to county government Since 1977, we have seen (Page 24 Please)

A Tale Of Two Sand Dunes

They’re miles apart in distar ce and in the way they regard sand dunes and the protection the sand barriers afford property behind the beach front. Avfilon recently completed a $30,000 dune stabilization project. The borough used almost $15,0G0 of its own money, the r?st was matched by the state. In Avalon, the governing body and the citizenry care about the dune? enough to spend local tax dollars to preserve and maintain

them

About 15 miles south is South Cape May, a former municipality which long ago went bankrupt and eventually literally washed away (except for homes that were moved off its conrtantly eroding beacies). Today, South Cape May is a stretch of deserted beach and meadowland stretching a couple of miles between 'Cape May City and Cape May Point. It is situated in Lower Township and its landslide boundary extends along the southern boundary of West Cape May BECAUSE THERE are no stone groins or timber bulkheads protecting South Cape May, beach erosion there is constant — a massive man-made sand dune established by the U.S. ^'Army Corps of Engineers following the devastating 1962 storm all but long since washed away. Unlike in Avalon, however, there are no expensive homes directly behind the dune in Lower Township. (her the intervening years as the protective

'man-made dune was .periodically breached by storm tossed seas, it has been the Borough of West Cape May which is hardest hit. Areas immediately adjacent to the meadpw have been flooded, septic tanks overflowing Homeowners in the Fow Tract have dipped into their own pockets to have their cottages raised. But they can do little to make overflowing septic systems function. According to borough Mayor Jack Vasser, Lower

state’s Dept of Er vironmental Protectip commented last May when the state announced it had approved the matching dune grant "The officials and residents of the Borough of Avalon are to be comihended for their work,” continued Marine Service Director Donald Graham THE AVALON dune stabilization project included snow fence installation, dune grass plantings and fertilization of the all-important grass.

‘...We haven’t been able to get any cooperation whatsoever.../ — Mayor Jack Vasser

Township has done next to nothing to alleviate the flooding and to maintain the dune. THE *62 STORM which rolled across much of the Jersey Coast like a continuous, unrelenting tidal wave, taught many citizens and politicians a lesson: Sand dunes — leveled generations ago *by r property owners seeking to sit at the ocean's edge offered the best protection from a marauding surf Dune maintenance ahd dune protection became at least as important as maintaining the streets. > The Borough of Avalon has been a leader in dune stabilization work (ot over a decade "This stabilization work is considered to be one of the finest programs along the entire coastline," the head of the Division of Marine Services in the

Sand is building along 1,600 feet of snow fencing. Professionally planted , dune grass plugs cover an additiohal 5.3 acres of dune Piew and existing plants in 25.5 acres of sandy hHls were fertilized The bdrough saved by installihg the snow fencing . with municipal workers using an automatic post hole digger. Those who doubt sOch fragile things as snow fence slats and tufts of grass can do much, have only to visit Avalon's High Dunes in the area of 48th St to see a working demonstration. (But be careful; don’t walk on the dune grass) AT THE NORTH end of the borough thert 'is a serious beach erosion problem at 11th St. There, the ocean has eaten away (Page 3 Please)