The top Democrat in the state Legislature, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, and a Republican senator from Warren County, Michael J. Doherty, have drafted legislation that would require beach towns that accept state or federal money for beach replenishment to provide free beach access to the public.
In Ocean City, which to help offset the cost of cleaning beaches and providing lifeguards, the potential legislation is frightening.
"I have a grave concern about the bipartisan support for repealing beach tag fees," Councilman Keith Hartzell said at council workshop on Thursday (Dec. 6).
Hartzell suggested taking a pro-active approach to fighting the proposed measure. He accused the state legislators of taking advantage of the devastating Superstorm Sandy for political gain.
"The very people most affected by Sandy are going to pick up the bill," Hartzell said. "It's going to get paid on our citizens' and taxpayers' backs. To think we're going to pick up $4 million is ludicrous."
Mayor Jay Gillian said that Sea Isle City Mayor Len Desiderio is lining up mayors from shore towns for a meeting at 10:30 a.m. Monday (Dec. 10) in Sea Isle to rally the opposition.
"They're playing with our livelihood," Gillian said.
Ocean City spent $3,963,000 in 2010 to provide lifeguards, beach tag inspectors, insurance, beach replenishment, dune construction and daily maintenance. But it brought in only $3,428,000 in beach tag revenue.
That $500,000 gap lead to a $5 increase in the cost of seasonal beach tags in 2011.
"Our beach fees relate very closely to our costs of operating the beach," Business Administrator Mike Dattilo said.
The proposed legislation suggests municipalities that accept aid for rebuilding beaches should not be allowed to collect fees for beach badges. It also would require municipalities to provide free public restroom facilities between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.
Sweeney said New Jerseyans "shouldn’t be taxed a second time just to walk on the sand.”
“It is likely that state and federal taxpayers will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to repair and replenish New Jersey beaches that were washed away during Hurricane Sandy,” Doherty said. “Considering the massive public resources that will be directed at rebuilding many New Jersey beaches, it only seems fair to ensure that everyone have the opportunity to enjoy free access to the beaches they will support and help rebuild with their tax dollars.”
The legislation, S-2368, would apply to towns that accept grants or aid from the state or federal governments after Nov. 2 for replenishing storm-damaged beaches.
The bill is still at the committee level and would likely not be considered further until the new legislative session in 2013.
Tag fees are user fees, they FAIRLY put the cost of that which is being used on the users. Those who don't wish to use are not burdened with the related costs. The "I want to use it, but only if its free" folks are not realistic. Nothing is free, someone pays the bills. "Beach tags free to the locals" schemes leave the revenue stream to cover beach maintenance costs short, so those costs would be borne by the taxpayers anyway. But then, if our taxes go up, we get a bigger deduction on our income tax returns, so the federal and state governments would get to contribute to beach maintenance anyway.
If beach tags are directly related to costs to maintain the beaches and protect them in summer that is one thing. But if people are paying for beach tags in order to maintain the beach tag program bureaucracy of product, salaries and benefits, and to funnel money into other budget items instead of cutting costs on those items, then it should be looked into. The city should take advantage of The Patch readership and post the annual costs of salaries, benefits and tags in comparison with what they collect by selling beach tags. Also as others mentioned - there are many great beaches in the country - in the south and west coast - that are protected, well maintained and have to deal with the same issues of cleanup and erosion and they have never had beach tags.
You might want to research your comments a bit. "Out of control"? Compare the growth in the price of a seasonal tag from when they first came out in 1976 to the general rate of inflation. I'll bet its less. "Proven in proportioned to actual use". Have you asked? I'll bet someone from the City Office of Finance would be pleased to provide the breakdown and % of total of the various costs covered by the fees. Guards are fewer in the days before Labor Day not because of financial considerations but because many of them return to school. Those same factors also result in fewer beachgoers during those days as compared with mid-summer.
Jim Arthur
The beach fee is a users fee only paid by those that want to use the beach to off set the cost to clean, protect, maintain, provide access, restrooms and other costs. It is a fact that property taxes in New Jersey are to high and if this bill is passed it will just make the tax bills in towns that have beaches higher and do nothing to lower taxes in any other community.. This is a horrible idea.
I generally agree with you except for that distinction. There is no "free." Tourists too should contribute to the costs of guarding and maintaining the beaches they use. You could argue that property owners are re-imbursed thru rental income, but some are day trippers. Yes the beaches should be free but the truth of the matter is it costs money to guard and maintain them. The question is who is going to pay for it? How do you do it equitably? To those of you who say it should be free its not free. Someone has to pay to maintian and guard those beaches.
You can argue that beaches should be free, but someone in the city has to clean them at days end. Beach tag sales are a logical user fee that reduce the local property taxes. I'm assuming the excess helps fund replenishment.
The two posted articles cited by Doug Bergen are excellent.
Jim Arthur