VILLAS — Lower Township’s tax base has risen by nearly $38 million to $3.798 billion, an increase of about 1 percent.
Tax assessor Elizabeth Ross provided Township Council with an update on the 2025 added assessment value during its meeting Nov. 17.
Ross said the $37,825,050 in added assessment raises the aggregate municipal value by 1 percent.
“That’s pretty decent when you’re looking at a number that big,” she said, noting assessment increases amount to un-budgeted income.
“They’re like bonuses — they drop in at the end of the year and it’s a little bit of extra money to up our cushion fund,” Ross said.
The new revenue generated $398,848 for the municipality, $101,955 for the county and $25,680 for the three fire districts, Ross added.
“This is a tough municipality; we have farmland, commercial . We have a very diverse residential community,” Ross said. “We have been battling a dropping director’s ratio, so that’s hard to get added assessments when you have that.”
Mayor Frank Sippel commended Ross for her efforts, saying the township was 12 to 18 months behind when she started in her position.
“You caught up. You did a great job,” he said.
Ross added that the township houses one-third of the county’s veteran exemptions and that there is a lot of paperwork to maintain along with deduction.
“All of this work that we’re talking about here with added assessments, I couldn’t do without [deputy assessor] Marissa McCorkel,” Ross said. “She is invaluable.”
OEM update
Department of Public Works Superintendent Gary Douglass updated the council on highlights of the OEM operations this year.
Douglass said a state of emergency was declared in January due to a snowstorm. The OEM team used the Emergency Management Mapping & Information Tracking system (EMMIT), which is a computerized resource for emergency management requests throughout the state.
“We used the EMMIT system to request additional plow trucks in January,” he said. “[The request] goes to the county, went through the state, and then we did receive a few trucks from the New Jersey Department of Transportation out of Pennsauken later on in that snowstorm, which was a big help.”
Douglass added that it was the second time OEM had used the EMMIT system. Each quarter, the OEM completes EMMIT training.
“We also attend quarterly meetings with the Cape May County [OEM] coordinators meeting, which is a requirement to receive the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for emergency management each year.”
The plan for hazard mitigation is currently under review and awaiting state approval, Douglass added.
“We attended planning meetings at the Delaware River and Bay Authority for their full-scale active shooter event which they held in April,” Douglass said. “The scenario there was [if] they had an active shooter on a ferry in the middle of the Delaware Bay.”
He added that the DRBA toured the Lower Township Recreation Center with the idea that it could be used as a reunification center in the event of an emergency.
Douglass said that this year, he and deputy OEM coordinator Katie Crecca attended a full-scale simulated tornado strike at Pelican Point Assisted Living.
“We observed several agencies, if in the event a tornado struck, how they would help evacuate or provide services to their residents,” Douglass said.
Crecca also attended a debris management class. Douglass said a plan should be in place if there were to be a major cleanup. Additionally, both Douglass and Crecca attended a New Jersey OEM preparedness conference this year, which he said was helpful for planning and creating an incident action plan for significant events.
The OEM team is also involved with Cape May County’s Code Blue, which occurs whenever the temperature is 32 degrees or below with precipitation, or 25 degrees or below without precipitation. Code Blue timeframe typically runs from Nov. 1 to March 1.
Lower Township shares Code Blue warming center services with Middle Township and rotates the service monthly. The warming center is located at Seashore Community Church in Erma, with Lower Township’s responsibility falling in November, January and March.
Other business
Township Council tabled an ordinance that would amend the modification of annual fire inspection requirements.
“The intent of this ordinance was initially to change the frequency of the year-round rental inspections that we do in Lower Township,” Sippel said, asking Township Manager Michael Laffey to meet with commissioners of all the districts to work through the ordinance.
Sippel added that there was plenty of time, since the fire district budgets were being voted on in February.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
