Department Directory

Ventnor exercises both legislative and executive powers to govern under the “Commission form of Government “, or the Walsh Act, and consists of three Commissioners. Voters choose three Commissioners to serve four-year terms of office on a concurrent basis in non-partisan elections held as part of the May municipal election. After each election, the three elected commissioners are each assigned a department to oversee and choose one of their members to serve as Mayor.

The Ventnor City Beach Patrol is authorized to provide a safe oceanfront location on the beach of Ventnor. The V.C.B.P. is charged with enforcing the laws according to the ordinances set by the City.

The City Clerk serves as Secretary to the City Commissioners and is the custodian of the municipal seal, all minutes, ordinances, resolutions, contracts, deeds and archival records of the City. Dog, liquor, mercantile, taxi and raffle/bingo licenses and yard sale permits are issued by the Clerk. This office provides general information to the public.

Code Enforcement coordinates and maintains the official records pertaining to building permits, plan review, inspection and activities of all third party inspectors contracted for the purpose of providing required inspection and plan review. This office issues construction permits, makes inspections, issues Certificates of Occupancy. The Code Enforcement Official enforces Zoning Ordinances and other miscellaneous Ordinances of the City of Ventnor to ensure adequate maintenance of buildings/homes throughout the City of Ventnor to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens.

The Ventnor City Cultural Arts Center provides arts education at the highest level in fine arts, crafts, and performing arts as well as having special events like the Ocean Breeze Arts &Crafts Show , The Holiday Arts Show &Sale and our Summer Arts Camp for kids. Everything we do is open to all , not just residents of Ventnor!

The City of Ventnor City Finance Office is the centralized financial services and reporting location for the City. The Office is regulated by the State of New Jersey. The main functions of the Office fall within the following parameters: Accounting, Budgeting, Accounts Receivables, Accounts Payables and Payroll.

The Ventnor City Fire Department works to prevent fires from starting through education and inspection programs, and strives to prevent the loss of life and limit the loss of property when a fire starts, by attempting to reach all fires within 4 minutes and perform immediate rescue operations. To confine fire to its place of origin, providing a rapid and aggressive interior attack to extinguish all fire.

The purpose of Emergency Management is to protect life and property in emergencies by coordinating response activities of municipal entities to ensure their optimum use. It provides for actions to be taken to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the effects of an emergency and covers natural disasters, technological disasters, and security crises.

The Planning Board is an appointed Board of Ventnor City made up of residents and City officials whose duty is to clearly and effective enforce and manage the Zoning Ordinances and ensure that the Master plan of the City of Ventnor City is maintained. The Board hears applications of residents twice a month.

The Ventnor City Police Department, together with all the residents of the City, strives every day and night to make our community a safe place to live and work. The Ventnor City Police Department provides protection to approximately 2.15 square miles and currently employs 38 sworn police officers, 8 full time Dispatchers, 2 Parking Violations Officers and 1 Records Clerk.

The Department of Public Works is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of public facilities, infrastructure and assets.  The Department performs and/or oversees the Divisions of Administration, Sanitations, Facilities Maintenance, Field Operations, Fleet Operations and City Wide Operations.

Throughout the year, the City of Ventnor City procures items and services ranging from office supplies and dump trucks to engineering services. In order to obtain these products and services, the City of Ventnor City uses various purchasing methods including the use of state contract vendors, obtaining price quotes, formal public bid process or, if a professional service is required, requests for proposals.

The Department of Community Recreation and Education offers educational and Recreational programs for Ventnor City’s youth and active adults. The Recreation Department plans, promotes, organizes and administers all recreational programs for the Ventnor City Community. The Department schedules and maintains City recreational facilities while providing community educational programs for children and adults.

The Special Events Department handles the coordination of special events in Ventnor. The department is responsible for planning events and concerts and provides permits for third-party events within the City.

The Assessor’s Office, under the general direction of the Atlantic County Board of Taxation and the State Director of Taxation, undertakes the assessing activities of the City of Ventnor as prescribed by law.

The Ventnor City Tax collector handles the collection of all current and delinquent taxes and utility accounts. The Tax Collector is accountable for the placement of liens on properties being sold to either outside lien holders or the City, property owned by the City being transferred through legal proceedings to property acquired by taxation, implements all assessor, county and tax court changes, validates the accounting of all collection of bank statements and various subsidiary ledgers, the filing of all required reports to various state and local agencies per NJSA, complete tax research requisitions, proper communication between the City and taxpayers concerning the amounts due on the property and monitoring of delinquent accounts, while sending out notices after every tax quarter as well as year-end tax sale notices.