Cape May County value rises 26 percent
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Saturday, October 7, 2006

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — The taxable value of the Cape peninsula rose by more than one quarter over the past year to almost $40 billion.

The 26.5 percent value increase is documented in the Abstract of Ratables put out by the Cape May County Board of Taxation every October. The 2006 abstract, posted on the county Web site this week, shows total taxable value of $39,158,651,750. In rounder numbers, that's $39.2 billion.

In 2005 the taxable value was $30,941,558,400, or $30.9 billion.

“In 2005 we passed Atlantic County and Camden County. This year we passed Burlington County and Mercer County,” said Cape May County Tax Administrator George Ray Brown III.

Most of the $8.3 billion increase is due to property revaluations, although new construction also added to the increase. Revaluations put higher assessments on the books in Avalon, Dennis Township, North Wildwood and Upper Township.

Avalon led the way in higher values. The property revaluation boosted the town's worth by more than $3 billion to a total of more than $8.5 billion. Values in Dennis were under $400,000 and are now over $1 billion. North Wildwood jumped from just over $800,000 to $3.4 billion. Upper went from less than $900,000 to almost $2.3 billion.

The four towns accounted for the bulk of the jump in value. In round numbers, the four towns rose in value by $7.7 billion within an overall increase of $8.3 billion. In actual numbers, the four towns accounted for $7,652,892,650 of the overall value increase of $8,217,093,350.

A small part of the increase in the four towns was due to some new construction. North Wildwood, for example, had $121 million in new construction. Avalon registered $85 million in new construction, Dennis $5 million and Upper almost $15 million.

Countywide, $564,200,700, or rounded off to $564 million, was mostly from new construction. This was led by Ocean City with $254 million in new construction.

Values likely will continue going up as either property revaluations or in-house reassessments are expected to go on tax roles in 2007 in Lower Township, Middle Township, West Cape May and Woodbine.

Brown said a number of towns have been ordered to do revaluations in 2007 that would go on the books in 2008. This includes Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Cape May Point, and Wildwood Crest.

The rising values are being fueled by demand for property at the shore. Land accounts for $26.9 billion of the total value of $39.2 billion. The rest of the value is in improvements, or what is constructed on that land.

“It really is the land, the selling price for lots. Even with construction costs rising, they're not rising at the same rate as land. Buildings depreciate. Land doesn't depreciate,” Brown said.

Brown said his figures are normally several months behind what real estate is selling for, and real estate agents have reported a slow-down in activity, but he doesn't see any long-term change. He said the market is driven by the number of people in the Northeast region and the desirability of the county.

“It's not just a huge population, but a huge population of rich people. There're more people visiting in summer and more people making it their residence,” Brown said.

The abstract also includes tax rates in the county's 16 municipalities, ranging from a low of 32 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation in Avalon to a high of $2.91 in Middle Township.

The abstract also shows how much the towns pay in taxes to the county. The 16 towns send more than $75 million to the county each year. Ocean City pays the most at $19.8 million.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:
RDegener@pressofac.com