Long Branch calls for 4.9-cent tax rate hike LONG BRANCH - The average city homeowner will be paying $2,784 in taxes annually if the City Council adopts its proposed $45 million municipal spending plan next month. The council introduced the municipal budget onApril 22 and set the public hearing on the spending plan for May 27. The budget calls for a 4.9-cent tax hike, which would bring the municipal purposes tax rate of 52.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation up to 57.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. For the average homeowner whose home is assessed at $483,243, taxes would go up $238 annually if council adopts the budget. Long Branch Chief Financial Officer Ronald J. Mehlhorn Sr. said the budget is up $3 million over last year's $42 million budget because of salary and pension increases, as well as a decrease in state aid. The city had a loss of $505,000 in state aid, according to Mehlhorn, who said the decrease in state aid amounts to about 1 cent of the 4.9-cent tax-rate increase. The major increases in the budget are salaries, which rose more than $1 million from last year, Mehlhorn said. He added that pensions also increased more than $1 million. - Christine Varno