New Castle County Executive Matthew Meyer proposed a Fiscal Year 2019 budget that includes a proposed 12 percent increase in sewer bills and a 15 percent hike in property taxes that could add up to an additional $100 a year for homeowners.
Not approving the budget’s revenue package would lead to library and park closings, among other cuts, according to Meyer.
“The prior administration handed us over $70 million in unpaid bills without the revenue to pay for them,” Meyer said. “For six years, New Castle County has dipped into savings to pay its bills and that must stop. The county budget I propose reflects difficult choices to fund our first responders, police, parks and libraries, sewers, and other services that save lives and drive our quality of life into the foreseeable future.”
Meyer was referring to the administration of former County Executive Tom Gordon.
Meyer previously warned about a structural deficit facing the county and the use of using of savings funds.
Meyer noted that his administration has cut $6.5 million in spending.
Previous actions contributed to the budget gap
- Agreeing to contracts with the county’s major employee unions that added over $65 million of new expenses over ten years;
- Arranging in its 2015 bond sale to make interest-only payments until Fiscal Year 2020, increasing repayment costs by $3.4 million over the next 20 years;
- Committing to an additional $1 million in county services annually;
- Financing operating expenses like public safety equipment and computer purchases through capital borrowing.;
- Risking $3 million in taxpayer money with a loan to the Delaware Board of Trade.
Based on current spending, reserves of $20 million will be exhausted in the upcoming fiscal year, a release from Meyer’s office stated.
For Fiscal Year 2019, Meyer said his administration will take new steps to ramp up tax collections and will also reduce expenditures by an additional $4.5 million through attrition, elimination of more than 20 vacant positions, reductions in overtime and seasonal positions, reducing workers compensation costs, lowering operational costs and enhancing use of technology.
Meyer is asking the General Assembly to restore the state reimbursement of paramedic services to 50 percent as well as the ability to charge a county room tax of up to 3 percent, and a cap on the first-time homebuyer exemption.
15 percent jump in property taxes
The proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budget includes a 15 percent increase in county property taxes. On average, the increase would amount to $65 per year on an average annual county tax bill of $433, according to a release from Meyer. It is the first proposed tax increase since 2009.
Without adopted of the proposed budget, county taxpayers would see:
- Compromised public safety by increasing 911 Center call wait times, slow paramedic response times and curtailment of proactive policing and police engagement with neighborhoods;
- Closing of two major county parks and 12 county district parks and an end to mowing operations in all 200-plus neighborhood parks;
- The closing of one of the largest libraries, along with a smaller library such as Elsmere.
- Shuttering Rockwood Museum or an end to financial support for the county’s popular sports leagues
Meyer and members of County Council will host a series of community town halls in every council district to engage with members of the public about the proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budget and hear feedback. The schedule is being posted online at www.facebook.com/nccde/events.
The budget makes new investments in public safety, including $126,769 to create two additional Telecommuter positions in the 911 Center to assist in fire and medical response and $40,000 to expand the county’s RAVE Panic Button, a safety solution that today employs technology to integrate 115 public and private facilities into the 911 Center to improve response to emergency situations.
The county also allocates $4,251,305 to maintain the county’s support to the fire service through grants to fund a portion of their operating costs.
Final budget totals
The proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Operating and Capital Budgets total $325,067,277.
- General Fund Operating Budget: $200,620,549 (2.32% higher than FY2018 budget)
- General Fund Capital Budget: $16,893,246
- Sewer Fund Operating Budget: $80,112,713 (2.29% higher than FY2018 budget) *
- Sewer Fund Capital Budget: $27,440,769
It is worth noting that previous budgets were approved by the County Council. Many if not most current council members served during the administration of former County Executive Tom Gordon.
In 2016, Meyer won out over Gordon, who lost a bid for a fourth term. Gordon, a former County Police Chief, served two terms and returned to serve another.
