Cape May County has 30 trust funds, two of which are supported by special tax levies. The Open Space Fund has a tax levy of about $.01 for each $100 of total assessed valuations and the Library Fund has a tax levy of $.0324 per $100 of total assessed valuations. Avalon and Ocean City do not participate in the Library Fund.
Open Space Fund
The Open Space tax should be indefinitely suspended.
The following is the opening paragraph of Open Spaces, Cape May County Program Guide-2021:
“On Nov. 9, 1989, the voters of Cape May County approved, by a 2-to-1 margin, a ballot question endorsing the establishment of a trust fund to preserve open space and agricultural land. The trust is funded by a county property tax of one cent per $100 assessed valuation (known as the Open Space Preservation Tax) and currently generates approximately $5.5 million annually.
“Once the funds were in place, the county established the Division of Open Space and Farmland Preservation to administer the program, which focused on the outright purchase of open space parcels, and the purchase of development rights on active agricultural lands from willing sellers.
“From 1989 to 2020, the county was successful in purchasing 1,341 acres of open space ($32.7 million spent) and deed restricting 3,324 acres of farmland ($35.6 million spent). This has resulted in the permanent preservation of 4,665 acres through the utilization of more than $68 million of trust fund dollars.”
The Open Space tax now brings in about $5.8 million a year, as compared to about $3 million a year in expenditures.
Consequently, the balance of the fund has grown to $33.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2021, enough to finance 11 years of spending. Although the tax is very small to Cape May County taxpayers, it should be indefinitely suspended.
Library Fund
The Library Fund has a balance of $11.9 million. This is compared to an annual tax levy of about $10.8 million. The fund balance could support one year of operations and the tax should be suspended for one year. Based on a $1 million assessment, this would save a taxpayer $325 for one year.
Reserve for Accumulated Absences
Although this fund does not contain “fund” in its title, it is considered to be a trust fund by the county and is listed as such in the 2020 Audit Report table of contents.
“Accumulated absence” means any sick days, vacation days, personal days, compensatory time, or other absence time authorized as part of an employer agreement, which is not used by the employee during the allowed period, and which is permitted to accumulate over time to the benefit of the employee.
The actual amount of accumulated absences outstanding is $7.5 million as compared to the trust fund balance of $1.1 million.
This $6.4 million shortfall needs to be addressed by the county.
