The Newark City Council will vote on an updated city budget Monday evening.
The new budget shows an increase of 7%, or $8.5 million, in operating revenues and total costs. If the budget is approved, city residents can expect an increase in electricity and water costs. Property taxes would also increase by 2.5%. A few factors playing a role in the increase are beyond the city’s control, including overall inflation, officials say.
Costs are also being driven up by a new sewerage contract. Newark outsources its sewage treatment to New Castle County. A new contract is not yet official, but it will cost the city $850,000 more than before.
Union contracts for city employees are also on the way, and overall inflation has led the city to pay higher wages in response. For example, David Del Grande, Newark’s chief financial officer, said the police union’s contract expires in July. The city is also struggling to hire government workers, so wages must keep pace to attract applicants.
“We have fallen behind the market. We are having hiring difficulties, especially in our field labor positions, and are really struggling to hire and retain employees at our previous contract wages,” he said.
Mayor Jerry Clifton said the quality of employees is critical to the city’s functioning. He said he doesn’t want a “revolving door” of employees and wants to provide a living wage.
“We have really high-quality employees who really care about serving our neighbors across the city, and we want to maintain that workforce,” he said. “You don’t retain the good people, the quality of service may decline.”
New water treatment regulations have also increased the city’s budget. City officials said testing for “forever chemicals” like PFAs and more led them to add equipment and a new feature. Other new positions include someone to review speeding tickets issued using a speed camera. Although the city will not be able to generate revenue from the camera, the costs for the camera itself and the operator behind it will ultimately pay for themselves.
More about the flash: Slow down, Newark: The city is getting its own speed camera to deter fast motorists
City Manager Tom Coleman said the City Council’s biggest concern about this year’s budget is that some purchases and projects had to be postponed due to increases in electric and sewer costs. For example, a new position for rainwater management had to be removed from the budget.
“The council is a little frustrated with the electricity and sewer costs because they are large numbers. It’s more than half of what the increase was this year. They’ve asked us to postpone some purchases,” he said.
But there will be a vote on Monday on the months-long process of developing a budget, and Coleman said they will hopefully approve it.
“We can reduce the number of people; we can reduce our costs,” Clifton said. “Is that the best step forward in my opinion? Absolutely not.”
This article originally appeared in Delaware News Journal: The Newark city budget vote has been set. See what’s driving the increases
