By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Sussex County’s proposed fiscal year 2022 budget is one for the record books.

On Tuesday, county officials unveiled their proposed $278 million budget — the most significant in county history. It reflects the county’s emergence from the pandemic, its conservative budget approach and funding through the American Rescue Plan.

“As we plan the FY 2022 budget, we must operate a government that can meet the current demand of its residents and visitors, while being conscientious that the economy can always change for the worse,” said Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson. “This budget has been created with balance in mind, not just (that) revenues equal expenses, but also quality services equal demand and reasonable expenses equal sustainability.”

Sussex County Finance Director Gina Jennings added, “We’re budgeting conservatively, keeping it at 70% of what we expect.”

The proposed budget, just over $100 million more than the fiscal year 2021 plan, will fund numerous services, including grant-in-aid, sewer-service expansion and public safety — paramedics, 911 dispatchers and the new public safety complex at the county-owned Delaware Coastal Airport in Georgetown.

The $100 million difference in the current budget and the 2022 proposal is largely due to increased capital construction and an influx of federal money through the American Rescue Plan.

“Total budget is going up $100.7 million, and that is twofold,” said Ms. Jennings. “Most of it is the American Rescue Plan grants that we are receiving from the federal government. What I am doing is I am creating another fund for this, so we have better transparency and we can report that as we start deciding how we are going spend those funds.”

The county will be receiving more than $45 million in ARP funding.

The overall 2022 proposal is a sharp contrast to the current year’s $177.3 million budget, which, when presented at $157.8 million a year ago, was pared back 15% due to uncertainty concerning the pandemic.

But as fiscal year 2021 has played out, the county experienced a surge in real estate revenue, as people quarantined during COVID-19 took on home-improvement projects or purchased new houses in the region.

“As we move into FY 2022, the real estate market is flourishing in Sussex County,” Mr. Lawson said. “We are anticipating record-breaking numbers in building permits as we finish the current fiscal year. We project that the county will have 21% more building permits than it did at the last peak, in 2006. When comparing year after year, the county is projected to process 34% more permits than last year.”

As presented, the proposal includes:

• No change in current property tax rates; the rate will remain at 44.5 cents per $100 of assessed value.
• Minor increases — $4 annually for sewer, $15 annually for water — for public utility customers.
• New after-hours fees for the Marriage Bureau through the Sussex Clerk of the Peace.
• More than $41 million in additional funding over the present year, to $72.3 million, for wastewater infrastructure, including new sewer mains, increased treatment capacity and other upgrades to the county’s utility systems.
• $6.15 million for construction of a consolidated public safety complex that would expand the Emergency Operations Center to accommodate the county’s Emergency Medical Services’ administrative offices and training facilities.
• Increased funding, from $3.4 million to $3.7 million, for the county’s contract with the state for the 22 supplemental state police troopers assigned to Sussex County.
• $4.4 million, up nearly $3 million from the current year, to preserve open space and farmland from development.
• $2.5 million in funding from reserves to pay for the initial stages of a court-ordered countywide reassessment of all properties.
• A $2 million allocation, up $1.25 million, to continue efforts to expand broadband in rural areas.
• Funding for 10 new positions to meet demand in the Assessment, EOC, Engineering and Planning & Zoning departments, with eight of those split between the EOC and Engineering offices for additional dispatchers and sewer workers, respectively.

“It is quite impressive to see all that we do on a day-in-and-day-out, weekly basis for the services that we provide,” Mr. Lawson said. “When we have these capital projects, we are not borrowing money to do so. We are using savings, which is something that we should be very proud of.”

The budget proposal also recommends a cost-of-living adjustment of 2% for nonunion employees and 1.5% for union workers per their contracts, as well as merits for all employees of 1.4%, Ms. Jennings said.

Over the past year, Sussex County earned another Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting and a AAA bond rating by both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service. The county also saved sewer customers an estimated $12 million through refinancing older bonds.

The 2022 budget proposal was developed utilizing a new cloud-based reporting tool that shows much more detail — through charts, tables and narratives — and provides a greater understanding of county finances and heightened transparency of the budgeting process.

“This is a communication document,” said Ms. Jennings, noting that it will offer citizens a better understanding of available services and how their tax dollars are spent. “Now, it is all digital.”

Additionally, Ms. Jennings said the budget process was revamped to align with the comprehensive plan, which is the county’s strategic plan. “We create administrative annual goals based off that comp plan. In the budget document, each department comes up with their own goals, and they align with the administrative annual goals.

“One thing that is big this year is that we want to start showing our constituents how we are meeting those goals.”

County Council President Michael H. Vincent applauded the budget team — including Mr. Lawson, Ms. Jennings and Deputy Finance Director Kathy L. Roth — for crafting a plan that helps restore normalcy following a year of so much uncertainty.

“Facts and the familiar have been hard to come by, it seems, throughout this past 14 months,” Councilman Vincent said. “But if there is anything our citizens can count on, year after year, pandemic or not, it’s that their hard-earned investment in public services here in Sussex County will be managed in a consistent, conscientious and conservative manner.”

County Council will hold a public hearing on the budget proposal during its meeting June 22 at the county’s Administrative Offices on The Circle in Georgetown. That meeting will begin at 10 a.m.

The public can comment in person or via teleconference on that date or submit comments via budget@sussexcountyde.gov. By law, County Council must adopt a budget by June 30.
To view a copy of the proposed budget, as well as the accompanying budget presentation, visit here.