Lewes adopts 2017-18 budget with small deficit
Lewes Mayor and City Council will dip into the reserves to balance the 2017-18 operating budget. The five-member council agreed to use about $28,000 in reserves and unanimously passed the budget at a special meeting March 20. The new budget year begins April 1.
The deficit had grown to $150,000 just a week before the vote, but a 50-cent increase to hourly parking rates at the two public beach parking lots is expected to erase an estimated $90,000 of the deficit. It will now cost $2 per hour to park at the beach lots. City staff realized other cost savings to bring the deficit even lower.
“We started at a less-advantageous deficit figure, and we worked as a team to bring it down to something that is very manageable,” said Councilwoman Bonnie Osler.
There are still unknowns that could affect the budget. Healthcare costs for the upcoming year are still estimated – a 10 percent increase is anticipated in the budget. The city is also negotiating a new contract with the police union, so an estimate was plugged in until a deal is struck.
“We haven’t amended a budget in a long time, but I’ve been around council long enough to know we have, and we may have to do this. Stay tuned,” said Mayor Ted Becker.
Council also passed the city’s capital budget. While funding was included for the controversial proposed pedestrian project on Savannah Road from the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal to the beach, the project does not yet have a green light.
Becker asked Osler and Councilman Rob Morgan to meet with Department of Transportation officials and the Historic Lewes Scenic Byway committee to try to resolve any outstanding issues with the project.
The proposed plan would add a two-way bike and pedestrian path parallel to Savannah Road along the marsh down to American Legion Road. Landscaping would separate the path from the roadway. The project would also add crosswalks, new sidewalks and more landscaping.
The project would be funded through DelDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program, which receives annual federal funds that are spread across the state to qualified projects. If the project moves forward, the city would be required to pay 20 percent of the cost, about $20,000 in the upcoming fiscal year for design and $130,000 in the 2018-19 fiscal year for construction. An additional $130,000 is an estimated cost for a second phase in the future.
Osler has been critical of the plan, but she said she is eager to meet with DelDOT and the byway committee to express her concerns.
The Savannah Road project is not the only big-ticket item in Lewes’ capital budget. Council budgeted $250,000 for the renovation of the bathrooms at the main beach. The project will allow the bathrooms to stay open 365 days a year. Becker said the building is 20 years old and the project will bring the building up to current standards for buildings in the flood plain and will meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
Council is also planning to repave the secondary public beach parking lot for an estimated $190,000, which includes $70,000 from Municipal Street Aid. Work is contingent on a Board of Public Works project, and is slated to begin in spring 2018.
The city passed a scaled-down version of its annual street improvement project March 20. The project was altered to stay within the $215,000 budget. Work is expected to occur from April to June.
