The legislation should require the state to provide each beach town with the necessary funds, in a yearly block grant based on needs documented in a standardized form. Regular audits should be performed.
This plan maintains local control. The people in the towns know how to run their beaches. They just need the funds to pay for lifeguards, maintenance, and security. Any 'takeover' by the state is unnecessary and would be detrimental.
The towns would no longer struggle to fill beach attendant jobs all summer. But some of those no longer needed to sell and check badges could transition into new positions such as beach ambassador and beach safety officer. During peak user periods especially it is important to have knowledgeable staff looking after the beachgoing public. The police departments not be burdened with the task of confronting beachgoers to demand to see for badges or wristbands, or identification, which is a constitutionally questionable practice and should be abandoned.
To replace the money previously raised badge by badge, wristband by wristband, a dedicated funding source is not necessary. For the state of New Jersey, if a hundred million dollars is needed, that's not a prohibitive amount of money (estimated at .002% of the state budget, a one-five-hundredth). But if the contention that a dedicated source is needed will hold up approval, it need not be hard to find a solution. One model to follow would be the hotel/entertainment tax which pays for beaches in some South Jersey towns. Another would be "Pennies for Piniellas," which has been paying for beach expenses and a host of county parks and land acquisitions in that Florida county since 1990.