Christie Announces Flat Funding for Ocean City

Figures released Thursday as part of Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget show that this year Ocean City will receive the same amount of municipal aid as the past two years.

In Mayor Jay A. Gillian's administration's proposed budget for this year, flat funding from the state was assumed in the amount of $2,146,048, according to Ocean City Director of Finance Frank Donato.

"Best case scenario for us was at least keep it flat, and that's what happened," Donato said. "Fortunately, it came out flat and there weren't cuts to it."

On Wednesday night, Christie delivered a budget address to state legislators.

"We have established a new normal. In the new normal we will shape the budget to make it more sustainable each year, and address priorities that will make New Jersey more successful each year," he said. "This year's budget does what I promised we would do ... It continues to reduce government spending."

Earlier this month, Ocean City proposed a municipal budget that calls for a . While many municipalities around the state are attempting to stay below Christie's 2-percent cap on property tax, Ocean City is not near reaching the level of spending that would call for such an increase, according to Donato.

The overall proposed Ocean City municipal budget for 2012 is $69,191,858, a 0.35 percent increase from last year's budget of $68,950,382.