Cape May Mayor Zach Mullock compares the city’s beaches to that of a self-funding utility thanks to beach badge fees.
Without revenue from beach badges, Shore communities would face budget deficits that would make the beaches less safe, Mullock said, saying the city would have to layoff lifeguards and not be able to do beach replenishment projects.
“Every dollar that goes into the beach utility stays with the beach,” Mullock said, expressing concern over a proposed bill that would end beach badge requirements for surfers and fishermen.
The bill, if it becomes law, would allow people using the beach to reach the ocean at the mean high tide line without purchasing a beach badge.
“I think this is a major overreaction to apparently to what happened with a police officer and a surfer,” Mullock said.
Mullock said without beach badge revenue, Cape May would likely lay off lifeguards and potentially close beaches.
To have taxpayers pick up the costs of operating the beaches, he said, would be burdensome on the city’s residents, many of whom are over the age of 60 and on fixed incomes.
Cape May’s median household income is about $57,200, about $44,000 less than New Jersey’s $99,700 average, according to U.S. Census data. Of the city’s 2,700 year-round residents, many are over the age of 60, Census data shows.
“I think beach tags are as perfect of a tax as you could possibly have, or at least as fair of a tax as there is,” Mullock said. “I know it’s not a tax, but obviously, it’s a fee. All of our residents pay it. Obviously, our tourists pay it.”
Other Shore communities have opposed the proposed legislation.
Sea Isle City recently passed a resolution urging Trenton lawmakers to not vote for the bill. Seaside Heights officials said the proposed bill would encourage beachgoers to congregate closer to the ocean instead of buying a beach badge.
Stories by Eric Conklin
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.