Lewes eyes police, resiliency cuts

A Lewes budget review team is recommending the city cut police spending and the amount dedicated to its coveted resiliency fund in the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget.

Mayor and city council received the team’s proposal at a special meeting Feb. 6. The budget team was a citizen-led working group comprising Kerry Tripp and Larry Franz, both recommended by the city’s finance committee, along with council Treasurer Joe Elder, city Finance Manager Susan Willcocks, City Manager Ellen Lorraine McCabe and Deputy City Manager Janet Reeves.

McCabe said the FY27 budget expenditures total $13.1 million. She said revenues are up 2%, and expenditures are up 5% from last year.

She reported the city has $14 million in cash reserves.

The budget does not propose a property tax increase.

The budget review team said it found a total of $1.315 million in discretionary savings.

The group’s recommendation is a proposal. Council will hash out the details in a series of meetings before the April 1 budget deadline.

The team recommended reducing the amount allocated to the city’s resiliency fund from $1.1 million in FY26 to $174,500 in FY27. Transfer tax would fund 5%, down from 10% in 2025. The rest would come from the Chesapeake Utilities fund. No money would come from the general fund, under the proposal.

Mayor Amy Marasco championed the creation of a resiliency fund to better position the city to recover from a natural disaster. She said, while it looks like a dramatic step back, the budget team was attempting to give council more flexibility.

“There is a little over $1 million that is up for council reallocation, so it could go back into the resiliency fund. We could reverse it; we could increase the amount,” Marasco said.

The team also recommended council reduce police department spending by $55,000 to $3 million. The department currently has 17 officers, but is hoping to hire an 18th to reach full staffing.

Chief Tom Spell said reducing his budget by that much would prevent him from hiring an 18th officer until halfway through the fiscal year.

The budget team also questioned the number of police vehicles. Spell said they have 19 vehicles, one for each officer, plus two spares. He said they would add an additional vehicle if another officer comes onboard.

Other recommendations in the budget team’s report:

• Defer the $500,000 Savannah Beach lifeguard building renovations until FY28

• Dedicate $500,000 for the city’s municipal campus, either renovations of the current city hall and the Schley Avenue maintenance building or a new campus, possibility at the former Army Reserve Center on Savannah Road

• Raise parking meters to $2.50 per hour in town and $3 per hour at the beaches. The increase is estimated to generate an additional $250,000. It would be the first increase since 2022.

Councilman Tim Ritzert questioned if the city’s May 1 to Oct. 14 meter season is too long and hurts businesses.

Elder, who is leading the parking working group, said members will examine that and parking across the city.

“In the off-season, a lot of the spots are taken by employees and renters that can’t park there in the summer,” he said. “The central business district is cannibalizing itself. When large groups want to come in for dinner, it’s hard to park.”

Council discussed the fact that there is still a three-hour parking limit in the off-season that should be enforced.

The proposed FY27 budget also includes $130,000 for repairs to the Zwaanendael Park fountain and sidewalks, $40,000 for Blockhouse Pond restoration and support for a replica pavilion at Johnnie Walker Beach.

McCabe is proposing hiring a second deputy city manager and changing the part-time dockmaster position to full time, with additional responsibilities.

The budget also proposes doubling the salaries for mayor to $8,000 per year and council members to $6,000 per year.

Marasco has urged the creation of working groups – not official committees – as a way of getting more people in involved in government. In addition to budget and parking, there are current working groups on Blockhouse Pond and dark-sky lighting, with groups on taxes and historic markers in the works.

“They’re working beautifully,” she said.

The next mayor and city council budget meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m., Friday, Feb. 20, at city hall.

The full draft budget and budget team recommendations are available at lewes.civicweb.net.