'Friendly City' overtaxes residents Long Branch City Hall does it again! The "Friendly City" will stick its residents with a tax increase. This comes after the home reassessment, most of which doubled in value. And [Director of Finance Ronald] Mehlhorn has the audacity to tell the average home owner, " … it is only $50 a week." Well, bully for him! Maybe he can afford to live with that, but too many in Long Branch can't, like those on a fixed income, or who don't get annual pay raises (especially 7 percent), or renters - already beyond affordability - and small business owners, who will naturally have to pass on those increases to customers like you and me. And we know next year's taxes will only go up more. City officials said our taxes would go down, not up, with development; they said it again with the reassessments. Yet plans are in the works to level this extra burden of $3,400,000 to the budget, above and beyond the revaluation increases they'll get. Most taxes have already gone up with the reassessment bills sent out in March. How much more of our "blood, sweat and tears" does city hall want? No surprise. The residents' tax base increases, while developers go scot-free for several years, as city hall gave developers a 10-year tax abatement. By the by, these are the folks who have caused home assessments to double in four years. (Condos that started at $200,000 in '02, were $700,000, last I heard, in '06). City hall had to "add on" more services for the beachfront. So, who's stuck footing that bill? Is this really the "Friendly City"? Friendly to whom, its residents? Or to developers taking over properties and making huge profits? (And changing the face of our town.) What about the new residents in the redevelopment areas? Are they getting tax breaks, or are they being gouged too, and for what services? When was the last time you saw your street swept or paved, or public sidewalks fixed, or your kids' playgrounds refurbished? Or the opening of safe, affordable places for teens (or adults, for that matter) to "hang out"; or beach passes lowered for residents; or adding some money-makers like speeders on your street going 10 to 20 mph over the limit being stopped and fined; or the many zoning and building violators in the rest of town fined and told to undo their illegal building practices? It's a huge list. New Jersey already has one of the highest tax rates in America; people and businesses are leaving in droves. Long Branch has lost residents too, because of increasing taxes. City hall needs to wake up. Have they really looked at keeping the budget increases to a minimum? There has to be a better accountability at city hall. They need to put a limit on spending, and to find cutbacks on pay scale and retirements, along with different and better means to raise funds that are truly necessary to provide basic services. Kathleen E. Vignolini Long Branch