Voters rejected a referendum that would have raised taxes by 22 percent, a necessary increase to cover the cost of the borough's police department.
LAKE COMO -- Residents in this tiny Jersey Shore borough have rejected a 22-percent tax increase, likely leading to the disbandment of its police department.
The referendum -- a requirement if a municipality is going to exceed a 2-percent property tax increase cap set by a 2010 state law -- received 379 "no" votes to 137 "yes" votes, according to a unofficial results from the Monmouth County Clerk's Office. The results are unofficial because they don't include mail-in and provisional ballots.
Though the public question didn't mention police services, a "no" vote indicated that the borough would have to resort to "layoffs and or contracts for services to other municipalities" to get under the 2-percent cap.
Lake Como officials have said that is the referendum is rejected, it will likely ink a deal with Belmar to take over its police services, a $2.4 million cost officials have said is just not feasible.
Belmar, which already handles most of the public services for Lake Como, said it would take over police services in the quarter-square-mile borough for $914,438, and an additional $75,000 for seasonal officers in the summer."
"The Council will, again presumably, pursue a course to enter into a contract with Belmar," Lake Como Mayor Brian Wilton said last week, if the referendum doesn't pass. "In my opinion, that's the course of action they would take. It's the smart course of action."
In an interview with NJ Advance Media on Thursday, freshly promoted Belmar police Chief Andrew Huisman said his department is poised to take over Lake Como's police services, and that his officers know the area well.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
