Large homes leading to spillover parking issues in neighborhoods may be remedied with proposed construction changes.
By MADDY VITALE
There are plenty of reasons why homeowners are moving to Ocean City or making their second home a full-time residence. They want to live near the beach and the bay and take advantage of all the attractions and amenities the town has to offer, from the Boardwalk, downtown shopping and good schools.
And to add to the allure of living in the family-friendly, year-round community is this: it ranks No. 15 -- smack dab in the middle of 30 towns -- with the lowest tax rates, according to a published report in NJ.com this week.
While a typical home in the resort town comes with a price tag nearing $1 million, the taxes are less than what homeowners pay in some other communities in the state with home values of less than half that, according to figures in the report.
"Buying in Ocean City remains one of the best investments anybody can make," Mayor Jay Gillian said.
The 30 towns with the lowest equalized tax rates had an average property value of $1.3 million. All but five of the communities were located in three counties: Cape May, Ocean and Monmouth, according to the NJ.com report.
An equalized tax rate shows what a homeowner would pay if each municipality used the same formula to determine property value, according to the report.
“Like many of the shore towns on the list, Ocean City benefits from a large and valuable base of real estate. That helps spread the tax burden,” Ocean City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen pointed out.
There is still a lot of new construction continuing in Ocean City.
Bergen said there are several other reasons why homeowners choose to call Ocean City home.
“The city also provides full services for a year-round community, including an exceptional police department, fire department, and K-12 school district,” Bergen noted. “Ocean City also invests substantially in capital projects, making sure the island is clean and safe year-round, and in protecting the quality of life that taxpayers have come to expect. That protects and increases property values, and, in turn, keeps tax rates low.”
For years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, housing stock remains at a premium in “America’s Greatest Family Resort.”
Last month, when a report came out about housing prices soaring in some New Jersey towns and Ocean City’s was nearing $1 million at $971,766, up 13 percent in 2022 from the year prior, local realtors spoke about the theory of supply and demand.
“People really want to be in Ocean City. They want to bring their families. Ocean City’s rise in prices comes down to the basic economics of supply and demand,” Pete Madden, broker/owner of Goldcoast Sotheby’s International Realty in Ocean City, said in an interview with OCNJDaily.com in March.
Madden, who is also City Council president, also pointed out in the same article that low taxes is another strong selling point. He noted that while the prices are higher than in prior years for a typical home, the taxes remain lower than some other shore towns in the region. “We maintain a pretty low tax base in terms of what is passed on to the general public,” Madden said. “Keeping the taxes low really helps people to be able to buy here.”
