David Anderson represents the 4th District of Dover City Council.
I read with interest Mr. William Faust’s recent articles about city of Dover finances. The city does not need an audit. The city receives one every year. The annual comprehensive audit reports from 2009-23 are available online, and in a few weeks, 2024 will be available. As was explained to the gentleman, 2023 was delayed because a correction needed to be made. Accuracy is the most important factor; though timeliness is valued, accuracy affects interest rates and financial ratings. The report became available online in March, while two letters claimed otherwise, and will be presented to the Legislative, Finance and Administration Committee of the Council Committee of the Whole on Tuesday. You may visit cityofdover.com/public-documents-finance. No Freedom of Information Act or special request is required, just internet access, which one can obtain at our public library for free. The city has no control over when independent audits are ready.
Far from being broke, the city has a bond rating of AA and an Excellence in Financial Reporting award for its audit period, and budgets, audits, actuarial studies and monthly budget reports are all available. The city of Dover exceeds legal transparency requirements. You know that we struggle to keep general fund costs and revenues transparent. The solution is to have more taxpaying property. Hundreds of millions of private investments are on the way, along with jobs and affordable and market housing, if we are wise enough not to abandon our plans. One can receive current monthly information from City Council at the beginning of each month, in reports for the city manager’s, police, finance and planning departments. They are in the packet under cityofdover.com/meetings. Please check out the packets for council and the committees to obtain information for yourself on the issue that concerns you.
The city of Dover has balanced budgets, reserves and low debt. We continue to keep our taxes low and electric rates stable (the second lowest in Delaware, even lower than the Delaware Electric Cooperative). Water rates are the second lowest in the state, and sanitation collection rates are lower than average. Any increases are designed to be slow and methodical, based upon costs. Unfortunately, the city has the same inflationary environment that everyone else has, which includes increases in labor and supply costs, vehicle prices and, worst of all, regulatory costs. Yet, the city has defied the trends and resisted significant increases because council believes that you are getting hit from everywhere else. With the current council, you need not fear soaring costs. Unlike others, we do not have seasonal rate hikes. You pay for what you use at the same rate. A major water company in the state just applied for a 43% rate hike. Its rate is more than double ours. If we ran the water department more like a business, the rates would be double what they are, mirroring several others in the state. If the proposed rate increase happens, Dover will still be the second lowest in the state, and if no adjustments happen, it will be the third lowest when combining water and sewer. A March 14 news article stated that rates are rising in Delaware due to federal regulations passed in the last couple of years regarding PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.” We are pursuing grants to keep costs lower. It could have also added required upgrades to pipes that not only target lead pipes, as they should, but galvanized pipes that most older cities like Dover have. If the current administration’s review of regulations lessens the impact, that would keep rates lower. If they stay the same, rates must keep up with basic costs. If you see an average $4 increase in combined water and sewer, it is understandable that you would not be thrilled, but unlike others in the county and state, you will be paying less than your neighbors, who are paying 50%-120% more. It is easier to blame the people who you see than those creating the issue.
This Opinion is my own, and it is not an official statement from the city of Dover.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
