By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE – By statute, the amount of revenue generated by the sale of beach badges for the city of Margate may not exceed the cost of operating expenditures for the beach. In a recap of 2006 beach badge figures, the city reported taking in $250,119 through the sale of beach badges, a figure that falls far short of expenditures, which total $723,268.
According to Margate city clerk Tom Hiltner, the expenditures include lifeguards, inspectors and operating expenses of $481,236.
Also included in beach expenditures is $242,032 for work done by public works employees. Part of that is cleaning the beaches for 20 weeks, or 140 days, at a cost of $191,860. Public works employees plant dune grass each year to inhibit beach erosion at a cost of $4,654, which includes the dune grass plugs and the cost to plant them.
Each summer the city hires part-time employees to comb the beach each morning and walk just ahead of the sand tractor and pick up what the tide left behind. Those part-time city workers cost Margate $17,598. Another $20,000 went toward tractor maintenance and equipment.
City employees also do the work on the steps onto the beach and repairs to the bulkhead, and that work along with nails and supplies totals $8,720.
At the public works garage the employees are getting ready for the summer. They will paint and make any repairs to the lifeguard shacks and stands as well as the boats, and that will run roughly another $2,500. Any shortfall between revenues and the expenditures is made up through taxation.
Beach badges are available for sale seven days a week starting this week. Beachgoers may purchase badges 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily at the Martin Bloom Community Pavilion and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at Margate City Hall. They will be available seven days a week at City Hall beginning May 19.
The preseason price is $7 per badge; $3.50 for seniors. The badges are good for the entire season. Children under the age of 12 do not need a badge. On June 1 the discount price will end and all tags will be $15. Margate beach badges are reciprocal with neighboring Ventnor. TOP
