Lake Como Council Votes Merge Police Department With Belmar

LAKE COMO - There will be no more Lake Como Police Department by mid-May, following the Borough Council's decision to contract for police services with Belmar, according to app.com.

Seven officers will lose their jobs. Council members recently approved a 10-year contract with Belmar.

Lake Como residents last week nixed a budget that would have hiked taxes by more than 22 percent in order to maintain the borough police force. Of the town's 1,055 registered voters, 379 voted against the budget and 137 voted yes.

Lake Como will pay a pro-rated portion of $914,000 — 25 percent of Belmar's 2016 police and communications budget — for the rest of 2016. The borough will continue to pay one-quarter of the police budget for the duration of the contract.

It would have cost about $2.4 million to keep the police force, which translated into a $700 increase for a homeowner with a home valued at $400,000 a year.

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