Could Belmar Raise Its Beach Fee?

Get ready for the possibility of a $9-a-day beach.

Belmar officials spoke at their recent meeting about how rising expenses may force them to raise beach fees "across the board."

Mayor Mark Walsifer said the beach budget was running on a "shoe string" last year while lifeguards awere barely earning more than the minimum wage.

"That's why we're recommending that beach badges to go up," he said during Tuesday's meeting. "We want to get the beach back to where it needs to be."

Walsifer said costs for maintenance and making improvements are going up.

"That is one area where we have to get under each control," he said.

"If we do not do something, then the Belmar tax is going to have to subsidize the beach," he said.

Officials made the remarks after suggesting that they may need to raise taxes to handle short-term debt and other problems.

Officials heard from Meghan Bennett Clark, the borough’s bond counsel, who said the short-term debt has hit $27.395 million.

"That is a considerable note for a borough that has a $15 million budget," he said "We need to deal with that immediately."

Walsifer said he wanted the public to know "where we are at right now" by having Belmar's various professionals address the borough's needs and problems.

“There are things that are going to need to be fixed and it’s not going to be easy," Walsifer said in a Coast Star report. "If we continue on this path for another couple years we are headed toward a state takeover. It’s that bad.”

The borough’s auditor, Robert Allison, was quoted as saying that that over the past six years, the borough’s budget has grown by more than 12 percent, but there has been no increase in taxes to cover that increase.

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