Ocean County’s proposed 2025 budget will keep the current property tax rate at 28.2 cents per $100 of assessed value while increasing overall spending to $609 million. Despite a $42 million rise in the tax levy, the growing tax base, now valued at $176.5 billion, will offset the cost. This allows the county to fund various infrastructure and development projects without raising individual tax rates.
Commissioner Frank Sadeghi emphasized the region’s rapid population growth, particularly in Lakewood, where approximately 9,000 births occur each year. He projected that Ocean County’s population, which was estimated at 659,197 in 2023, will reach one million by the middle of the century. The expansion of the county’s infrastructure is essential to accommodate this growth, with projects like the $11 million reconstruction and widening of Cross Street in Lakewood being a direct response to increasing population density.
The budget also includes significant investments in bridges and roads, such as the $3 million replacement of the Dover Road bridges and a $12 million overpass on Route 539 in Plumsted. Additional infrastructure spending will go toward the $3.2 million Commonwealth Bridge project in Manchester and $5.5 million for stormwater management improvements.
Education and vocational training facilities are also set to receive major funding. The county has allocated $5.2 million for Phase III renovations of the Jackson Center in the Ocean County Vocational Technical School District, along with $25.2 million for the expansion of the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science in Stafford. Renovations to the Waretown Center will receive $8.2 million, while Ocean County College will see $3.2 million for radiography and veterinary laboratories and $3 million for upgrades to its administration building.
Upgrades to the Ocean County Airport in Berkeley are also included in the budget, with $3.8 million allocated for fuel tank relocation, $240,000 for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning improvements in the terminal, and nearly $1.3 million for the design of new aircraft hangars and a maintenance facility.
The formal introduction of the budget is scheduled for March 12 at the Ocean County Administration Building, with a public hearing and adoption vote planned for April 16.
