Following months of deliberation, the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county’s operating budget for fiscal year 2024 and set the advertised tax rates for fiscal year 2023 during a meeting Tuesday in the colonial courthouse.

The advertised tax rates that were approved feature an equalized real estate tax rate of $0.583 per $100 of valuation and a $2.95 vehicle tax rate. The county will continue to virtually exempt boats as well as all vehicles used by emergency services from personal property taxes, as those rates are set incredibly low so that virtually nothing will be collected.

The total FY24 operating budget for Gloucester comes in at $217,734,270. This budget includes $30 million in local transfers allocated to Gloucester County Public Schools. The school construction fund will receive $52 million. The schools’ operating budget, which includes federal and state funding, is approximately $75 million.

Other highlights in the budget include $6.6 million to be transferred to Social Services, $6.8 million to be transferred to the utility fund, $168,985 to the Mosquito Control fund and $3 million to Parks, Recreation and Culture.

Funding for public safety for FY24 is set at $22 million. The capital projects fund has a budget of roughly $13 million. Debt services fund will have a budget of $7.5 million.

The FY24 budget is highlighted by 7 percent pay increases for all county employees including pay bumps for the Sheriff’s Office staff. County staff raises were set to 7 percent across the board after the county learned it was receiving more revenue for the State Compensation Board than they had expected. This also allowed the county to fund a new investigator position for the Sheriff’s Office.