Residents criticize redevelopment, tax abatements and public safety at Long Branch council meeting

At the March 26 Long Branch City Council meeting multiple residents criticized the city’s redevelopment policies, tax abatements and recent violent incidents, urging the council to produce tax relief plans and sharpen public-safety efforts.

Vincent Lepore, of 33 Ocean Terrace, accused local redevelopment and tax-abatement policies of increasing the property-tax burden on homeowners and displacing long-term residents. Lepore said redevelopment since February 2005 has totaled “1,000,000,000” and argued tax abatements reduced the municipality’s contributions to the school district, shifting costs to homeowners; he also claimed the school district was losing about $1,300,000 per year because of specific abatements. Those figures and attributions were presented by Lepore as part of his public comment.

Nick Digo Yalmo, a Long Branch resident, said the city’s recent crime incidents have made residents fearful and urged more transparency about actions the council and police are taking. “This month has been horrendous in this town,” Yalmo said, listing murders and stabbings and asking what the council is doing to make streets safe. Mayor Palone and council members responded that safety is taken seriously and pointed to the city’s public-safety director as a contact for follow-up; Mayor Palone said the council would “take a look at that and look into it” and invited constituents to speak to Public Safety Director Brown after the meeting.

Speakers framed their remarks as requests for policy responses: Lepore asked the council to address tax-abatement practices and redevelopment outcomes; Yalmo asked for transparency and steps to reduce violent crime and street-level disorder. The meeting record shows public comment on these topics but does not record a formal council directive or adopted policy in response during the March 26 session.