Dover City Council Proposes Budget Cuts and Tax Increases to Address Seven Million Dollar Shortfall

Dover is grappling with a seven million dollar budget shortfall, and the city council is considering a plan to close this gap through property tax hikes and electricity rate increases. The proposed plan includes a three-cent increase per hundred dollars of assessed value for property taxes and a one-cent hike on each kilowatt-hour of electricity used. This comes on top of significant cuts to departmental budgets, including delayed road improvements and frozen hiring.

The city council will vote on this plan next month, but it passed a workshop review almost unanimously. For a homeowner with a $150,000 house, this could mean an extra fifteen to twenty-five dollars a month, depending on usage and weather. Officials argue that these increases are minimal and necessary while exploring other funding options.

Some residents have expressed opposition to the tax hikes, while city staff have raised concerns that these deep cuts and delayed projects arent a sustainable long-term solution. The city originally faced a thirteen million dollar deficit, which was reduced through spending cuts before the tax and fee adjustments were proposed.

The state is contributing about $1.6 million for fire and police services provided to Delaware State University, which helped reduce the property tax increase and eliminate a proposed residential public safety fee. The police department remains the largest part of the budget, though its funding increase was scaled back from initial proposals.

There was some debate among council members about using funds from a business development account or defunding the police academy to avoid tax hikes. Ultimately, the council decided to keep the tax increases and cuts, while also directing staff to assess the sustainability of the police academy.

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