I would like to discuss a proposal being made by Sussex County Councilman Mark Schaeffer, concerning additional funds to address our infrastructure needs in Sussex County with a revenue program known as “special tax district financing.” I know something about this program. While I served as president of the Bridgeville Town Commission, we instituted a special tax district for Heritage Shores, the first time this type of financing was used in Delaware.
Let me highlight the benefit that came from the program. First and foremost, the people of Bridgeville were never at risk for default. This program funded more than $22 million of public projects, including road, sewer and water improvements. In addition, the town was able to recoup funds for items that were associated with growth for which they had already paid or would need, such as town vehicles, computer program updates, renovations and certain employee costs. The library received $600,000 to help fund a new facility, and Bridgeville bought its first street sweeper. The Little League field saw improvements from these funds. The administration of the program was handled by a professional administrator, and that cost came out of the special fund revenue.
How about those that bought in Heritage? Through an agreement reached by the town and the developer, the first 900 homebuyers had half of the special tax over the 30-year life of the bond issued paid upfront by the developer. Not only that, but the price of the lot and home package was reduced by $20,000. All this was fully discussed with the buyers upfront, and a full disclosure release was also signed by the buyers, so that they were and are fully aware of their obligation.
No one is annexed into a special tax district unless they request such action, and those outside the district in the remainder of the town or county are never responsible for any of the payback of these funds.
To make sure that both the developer and town understood who was responsible for what was allowed construction-wise — and what and how many homes could be built — Bridgeville came up with a developer’s agreement that spelled all this out, so that future Town Commissions or new developers knew what was expected. Since my time in Bridgeville, the town has issued a second bond, offering to refinance the original bonds to take advantage of lower interest rates, thus saving thousands in bond repayments for the entire district.
Other towns also looked into the program and had their charters changed to allow them to do the same as we did in Bridgeville. Millsboro issued almost $12 million in bonds in 2007 for the Plantation Lakes special tax district. They funded a number of in-town projects, totaling $1.8 million, that they could do because of the addition of Plantation Lakes to the town of Millsboro. When emergency repairs to the town’s wastewater system were needed, they were able to redirect these funds to resolve those problems, saving thousands of dollars for all the residents of Millsboro. Last year, Millsboro issued a second bond offering to re-fund the original 2007 bonds and to also fund additional public improvements. Just over $3 million of the 2020 bond issue are available to Millsboro to pay for public improvements outside of Plantation Lakes that will benefit all residents of Millsboro. These new townwide improvements include the police station and various water upgrades.
County Councilman Schaeffer is proposing to use this funding mechanism to help resolve the infrastructure problem in Sussex County. From where I sit, a proposal that would give our new residents a chance to help pay for the infrastructure — including off-site road improvements that would be needed because of their desire to join us in Sussex — is a no-brainer, and because these bonds are normally issued prior to the sellout of the proposed development, developers are able to do immediate, off-site improvements, including roads, benefiting all of us in Sussex. By the way, the developer is making payments as well, thus continuing the practice of developers’ responsibility. As I said before, it’s a no-brainer to me. Good luck, Mr. Schaeffer, with a great attempt to solve this very complicated issue.
New law will help ease Sussex doctor shortage
On another subject, the governor and General Assembly took a major step to help resolve the doctor shortage in Delaware and Sussex County by passing and signing into law House Bill 48, which creates a Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program. This new program will award new Delaware primary care providers $50,000 per year for tuition reimbursement for a maximum of four years if they agree to work in underserved areas in Delaware and accept Medicare and Medicaid patients. The Sussex Economic Development Action Committee endorsed this bill and pushed for its adoption. The bill was passed unanimously in both houses of the General Assembly.
It joins a second, less successful program in place in Delaware since 1970. This program, known as the Delaware Institute of Medical Education and Research (DIMER), has provided funds to 1,206 prospective new doctors. Of that total, only 229 (19%) of the total participants who received Delaware taxpayer funds have returned to Delaware, and only 37 (3%) have located in Sussex County. We do a great job training doctors for Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., New York and Virginia, where 451 (37%) of Delaware-financed doctors have gone. SEDAC proposed a rather simple solution back in 2020: Add a one-sentence requirement to the present law that will require recipients to return to Delaware if they take our money. I’m told that SEDAC’s solution is too simple for this complicated program, but that same solution is part of HB 48 that is now Delaware law. Go figure.
Joe Conaway is chairman of the Sussex Economic Development Action Committee.
