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.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
