Dewey approves fiscal year 2015 budget

Dewey Beach Town Council unanimously approved a $2.69 million fiscal year 2015 budget, which runs from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015.

The budget is roughly $221,000 more than the approved budget for the current fiscal year and includes pay increases for police and lifeguards.

Salary and wages for police will increase from $532,000 for fiscal year 2014 to $575,267 for fiscal year 2015, an increase of 8.13 percent.

Salary and wages for lifeguards would go from $245,000 to $275,000, an increase of 12.24 percent.

The single largest portion of the increase from 2014 to 2015 comes from the lawsuit legal fees line of the budget. The proposed budget calls for $135,000, which includes an $85,000 payback from the town’s legal defense fund that was spent in fiscal year 2014.

Council approved a 1 percent increase in the town’s cable franchise fee, from 3 percent to 4 percent. During a budget presentation Feb. 28, Town Manager Marc Appelbaum estimated a 1 percent increase would cost 80 cents per household per month.

The projected income for fiscal year 2015 is $2.72 million.