Brant Beach Bulletin
May 12th, 2025
Thank you for renewing your membership for 2025.
The island is waking up!
We have many spring start-up dates to tell you about, as well as a deep dive into the county taxes you pay. You may be surprised to learn that they are much higher than your municipal taxes.
❖ BBTA’s Spring Membership Meeting will be held at 10am on June 14, with guest speaker Mayor Mancini. Our mayor will provide useful information and hear homeowners’ questions and concerns. All members and prospective members are invited. Coffee and bakery goods will be served.
❖ Traffic Lights on the Boulevard will be turned on beginning Monday, May 19. Speed limits will also be lowered. Since the Boulevard is a County road, the County crews perform this task and the date may vary.
❖ The Ocean Boulevard speed limit has been reduced to 15mph in Brant Beach and many other sections for the summer.
❖ Construction at the Ship Bottom Circle (which is no longer a circle – it’s been squared off) is nearing completion. The short stretch of Boulevard between 8th and 9th Streets in front of the auto parts store is now two-way traffic. We understand that all work will stop and all equipment will be removed by early June.
❖ Lifeguards, Gator service, and badge checking start on Saturday, June 14. Call 609-342-2411 to request a Gator pickup. Beach wheelchairs are less popular since Gator service began, but they are still available at 609-361-1210.
❖ The LBI Shuttle will be running on Memorial Day Weekend and every weekend through June 22. Daily service starts on June 23.
❖ Season beach badges are $40 through June 14 and $50 thereafter at the shack at 68th Street or online at mybeachmobile.com.
❖ Pickleball and tennis recreation badges are required from May 24-Sept 9 at Township courts. The season cost is $40 for residents, $80 for nonresidents. Correction from last month’s bulletin: These badges are not free for 65+ and veterans/active military.
❖ No Dogs on the Beach begins May 16.
❖ No Vehicles on the Beach begins May 16.
COMMISSIONERS’ MEETING
Representatives from the Brant Beach Taxpayers Association including Pete Potochney, Rusty Johnson, Donn O’Brien, Joe Pahlow, and Ben Tonti attended the May 5 Long Beach Township Commissioners’ Meeting.
❖ Twice-weekly trash and recycling pickup began on May 5. In Brant Beach, trash is picked up Mondays and Thursdays, and recycling is Tuesdays and Fridays. Call the Township at 609-361-1000 for pickup of old grills and other special items.
❖ The 2025 Municipal Budget was adopted with a tax increase of 3.4%, or about $94 per year for the average LBT property owner, according to Commissioner Joe Lattanzi. The 2025-2026 tax bills will be mailed in August.
Ordinances
❖ Proposed On First Reading: None
❖ Passed On Second Reading:
25-09: Authorizes the expenditure and appropriation of $810,000 in Open Space Funds to purchase a lot on 6 Delaware Avenue at the southern end of the Township (behind an ice cream shop). The lot will be striped to create seven new parking spaces to help ease parking in this neighborhood which includes pickleball courts, Veterans’ Park and access to public beaches. This ordinance was expedited and passed on Second Reading at a special session with the Mayor and Commissioners on April 17 to accommodate the seller’s request for an earlier closing date.
County Taxes
If you examine your property tax bill, you’ll see that a large chunk goes to the County. It’s substantially more than you pay to the Township. Go here and enter your last name to view your tax bill.
A small group representing the Brant Beach Taxpayers Association and the ten other LBI taxpayer/property owners associations met with several Ocean County administrators to learn more. Below is a summary. The full report is available here.
What is the “county tax rate”?
That is the rate that determines how much money you pay per $100 of your property’s assessed value to Ocean County for property taxes. In Long Beach Township, the 2024 county tax rate was $0.379 per $100 of assessed value. For example, a property assessed at $1M paid $3790 in county taxes.
By contrast, Beach Haven property owners paid $0.483 per $100, or $4830 for a property assessed at $1M. The reason for the higher rate is that, unlike Long Beach Township, Beach Haven hasn’t had a revaluation in quite a while. Their assessed values are well below true market value, so the tax rate is set higher to compensate.
What else is in my property tax bill?
There are seven taxes appearing on your bill. The county is the largest one, accounting for 42.4% of your total tax bill. The six other components in descending order are regional school tax, municipal tax, local school tax, county library tax, county open space tax, and municipal open space tax. If your home is assessed at $1,000,000, in 2024 you paid $3790 in County tax, $2060 in regional school tax, and $2030 in municipal tax, plus four smaller obligations.
How are Ocean County taxes calculated?
Taxes are calculated based on the amount of money the county needs to raise to cover its budget. Annually, the county creates a budget, considering current needs as well as a three-year look-ahead for operating expenses and a five-year look forward for capital budget items. The Ocean County tax administrator establishes the true value of all the properties in each town by using “sold” data from public records, compares it to the assessed values, and calculates the difference. From there, the tax rate for each town is established. In other words, if the real estate sales data shows that homes in a particular town are selling on average for 30% above the last assessed value, then the tax rate is adjusted upward to compensate. If there was a recent townwide revaluation, as in Long Beach Township in 2021, then the true market values would be close to the assessed values, and the tax rate applied will be lower. Townwide revaluations are done by each town at different intervals, which explains why each town has a different tax rate. All property owners in the same town, however, have the same tax rate.
What affects the tax rate?
Tax rates go up (and sometimes down) based on several factors, including the size of the county budget, the timing of the last assessment and the true values of the town’s properties.
How does the timing of property revaluations affect the tax rate?
Long Beach Township’s 2021 revaluation is more recent than most, so we see less fluctuation in our tax rates. Towns which are coming due for a revaluation tend to see wider swings in their tax rates.
What happens if a property owner disagrees with their assessed value?
Property owners may appeal their assessment. During an appeal, inspectors will want to gain access to the inside of the home.
How do I know when there is going to be a townwide property revaluation?
Complete revaluations are announced a year prior, but Long Beach Township is unlikely to need a revaluation for quite some time. Harvey Cedars appears to be the only LBI town undergoing a complete revaluation in 2025, which will affect their tax bills in 2026.
How is the tax money distributed once collected?
All tax payments (for all seven components of the property tax) are collected by our municipality according to the tax bill you receive annually and pay quarterly. The township, in turn, sends the correct portion of those funds to the county.
Thank you for your continued support of the Brant Beach Taxpayers Association.
