Sussex County adopts $266M budget with no property tax increase
Council draws upon reserves to strike tax hike
Sussex County property taxes won’t be raised this election year, as council decided Tuesday to use part of its reserves instead and adopted a nearly $266 million spending plan.
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Sussex County adopts $266M budget with no property tax increase
Council draws upon reserves to strike tax hike
By GEORGETOWN — Sussex County property taxes won’t be raised this election year, as council decided Tuesday to use part of its reserves instead and adopted a nearly $266 million spending plan.
During the budget process, the county found an almost $12.5 million shortfall it could have raised taxes to meet; however, it decided to tap into savings to cover things like beach nourishment, the court-ordered countywide tax reassessment, the ExciteSussex Fund loan program and others.
It will also finance land purchases, parking initiatives and water and sewer fund shortfalls.
Overall, the county is spending about $13 million less than it did last year, yet revenues have increased by $3.5 million via transfer taxes and by more than $650,000 in assessments.
The plan does increase several fees. Unmetered public water bills will see a flat hike of $25 per year, and sewer services will go up $10 annually. Costs will also rise for plan review submittals, clerk of the peace single-status forms, planning and zoning applications containing forested buffers and out-of-office weddings.
On the expense side, the report notes that the county plans to spend $52.5 million for wastewater infrastructure, $7.4 million to preserve open space and farmland, $4.6 million for supplemental state troopers, $3.4 million to pay for the continuing court-ordered reassessment of all properties, $5.7 million for fire companies and ambulance squads, and increased monies for municipalities providing law enforcement services.
County staff also included some noteworthy statistics in the budget document. For example, the average property tax bill is $120 for a single-family home and $47 for a manufactured home; the taxable assessment rate is on target for another 3.5% growth this year; and the number of issued building permits has decreased but not to prepandemic levels.
The fiscal year 2025 budget report, as well as the presentation made to County Council, can be found at sussexcountyde.gov/county-budget.
By law, the county must adopt a balanced budget by July 1 each year.
Staff writer Brian Gilliland can be reached at 410-603-3737 or bg@iniusa.org.
