Sussex eyes school, fire service fees
Sussex County Council plans to move ahead in coming months with creating fees to help schools and fire departments deal with the burdens brought by booming housing development.
At their Sept.16 meeting, council members briefly discussed drafting fees to help fund school construction projects to alleviate overcrowding as well as fees to support cash-strapped and overburdened fire departments.
At council’s request, the Delaware General Assembly approved letting the county develop a building permit impact fee to benefit school districts, and Gov. Matt Meyer signed the bill Sept. 3.
In January 2024, council members declined to consider a fee that the state General Assembly had authorized the previous year to fund school construction.
But the current council, with a majority of newly elected members calling for dealing with issues caused by development surges, has embraced the idea.
School districts lobbied for fees in 2023 and again this year. Cape Henlopen School District in recent months has repeatedly urged the county to deny approval of large housing developments until a fee is enacted.
Steve McCarron, who joined the council in January, said at the Sept. 16 meeting that he had spoken with county Finance Director Gina Jennings about a building permit fee to fund schools.
“There are some changes that we’re going to have to make at the county level, but this is certainly on our radar,” McCarron said. “In the upcoming months, there is some work to do on our end.” He said he expects the changes to be ready for public review as the work progresses.
“That is right,” Jennings said. “It is a fee that would go on all building permits, so we have to look at the building permit formula going forward. It will be ready to be introduced in the next year’s budget cycle when we set our building permit fees.”
The details of potential fire and school fees are yet to be determined.
A state-mandated study of fire services in each county illustrated the financial challenges of each fire department.
FACETS Consulting reviewed the operations and funding of the 23 departments that serve 275,000 Sussex County residents. A new fee to support fire departments was among its suggestions.
Kevin Roche, principal of FACETS, told the council April 3 that declining numbers of volunteers, increasing calls for service and rising costs are straining fire departments’ personnel and finances.
The report also suggests fire departments do strategic planning, consolidate equipment purchases, seek grants, hire professional financial services and take other steps to improve finances and operations. The county could also provide guidance in purchasing and billing procedures.
Lewes fire and emergency medical services officials warned in March that without more funding from Sussex County Council, they may have to halt EMS services due to the demands and cost of protecting a fast-growing population.
Councilman John Rieley said the Sussex County Volunteer Firefighters Association reached out to the county recently, and a meeting will be scheduled.
“We’ll be meeting with them and reviewing the FACETS report,” Rieley said.
“My suspicion is that summer is about over, and we are going to have a very, very busy fall,” he said.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
