Lake Como residents can cast a vote Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Borough Hall.
LAKE COMO -- The future of this tiny Jersey Shore borough's police department will be clearer at the end of Tuesday.
That's because residents in the quarter-square-mile borough, sandwiched between Belmar and Spring Lake, will vote Tuesday on whether they want to raise their taxes by 22 percent.
If they vote "no," Lake Como officials have hinted they will ink a deal with Belmar to take over its police services.
"The Council will, again presumably, pursue a course to enter into a contract with Belmar," Lake Como Mayor Brian Wilton said last week, referring to if voters reject the referendum. "In my opinion, that's the course of action they would take. It's the smart course of action."
It's the course of action officials have been leaning towards since October 2015, when they started mapping out the budget for 2016. The cost of a full police department -- with 13 sworn officers, a chief, detectives and a records clerk - would cost the borough approximately $2.4 million.
Belmar is offering to take over the services for $914,438, not including an additional $75,000 for seasonal officers during the summer.
A 2010 state law requires a referendum for any municipality that will increase its property taxes more than 2 percent. With the police budget factored in, the municipal tax levy in Lake Como would increase by $605,190. That's a 22-percent increase in taxes from the previous year, and equates to a $716.33 bump for a home valued at $400,000.
Residents in Lake Como can cast a vote from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Borough Hall, 1740 Main Street. Click here to see the public question and other information about Tuesday's referendum.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.