The tax levy increase vote has broader implications for Lake Como, which has taken steps to disband its police force.
LAKE COMO -- Residents in this tiny Jersey Shore borough sandwiched between Belmar and Spring Lake will head to the polls next week to vote on whether to allow a tax increase.
While this is standard practice under a 2010 law that requires a municipality to get permission from its residents if it plans to exceed a 2-percent tax levy increase, it has broader implications for Lake Como -- which has taken steps to disband its police force.
While planning its 2016 budget, Lake Como officials came to the conclusion that the only way to remain under the 2-percent cap was to cut its then 10-member police department. In October, the borough announced it would start taking proposals from surrounding towns to contract its police services. Belmar is the only borough that submitted a proposal.
Officials have estimated the cost to fund a full police department in the quarter-square-mile borough -- complete with 13 officers, detectives, a chief, and a records clerk -- would be around $2.4 million.
On Tuesday, voters will decide if they want to authorize an increase in the tax levy by $605,190, or 22 percent. That figure does not include the county or school tax.
If residents vote "yes," it will equate to an increase of $716.33 for a home valued at $400,000. A "no" vote would require the borough to adopt a lower budget, which "may include layoffs or contracts of services to other municipalities."
Residents can go to Borough Hall from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. to vote.
Lake Como Mayor Brian Wilton said if the referendum doesn't pass, he will advise the Council to enter into an agreement with Belmar. Belmar would charge Lake Como $914,438 to contract its police services, not including an additional $75,000 for seasonal officers in the summer.
If the voters reject the referendum, "the council will, again presumably, pursue a course to enter into a contract with Belmar," Wilton said. "... In my opinion, that's the course of action they would take. It's the smart course of action."
Officials with the local Police Benevolent Association, PBA 50, have shot back at Lake Como officials, alleging they muddled the budget numbers in their favor.
Wilton said this problem is decades in the making, and that funding used in the past to supplement the high cost of the department has dried up.
"No one wants to get rid of (the police), I don't want to get rid of them," Wilton said at a recent Council meeting. "This is the toughest thing I've ever had to do. But, when it boils down to it, you can only kick the can down the road so far."
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.