In laying out his Fiscal Year 2012 Budget last year, Wilmington Mayor James Baker dispensed with many of his prepared remarks and addressed the tension at that time between his administration and members of city council. The spending plan included cancellation of Wilmington’s 4th of July celebration and fireworks. This year, Mayor Baker said he has enjoyed his time in politics and thanked council for the work they do. Additionally, his budget for the next fiscal year calls for restoration of that $45,000 for the 4th of July – if local businesses can step forward and provide the matching $45,000. While the amount of money is relatively small, it is an example of solutions that the outgoing three-term mayor, those who hope to be his successor and members of council are exploring.
Wilmington's Budget: Plans from current mayor and mayoral candidates
Excerpts of Wilmington Mayor James Baker’s FY2013 Budget Address
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Candidates for mayor in this year’s election contacted by DFM News are cognizant of the basic structural issue facing Wilmington with respect to its overall financial health: rising costs of delivering services and compensating current and past employees, with a limited ability to collect revenues.
Bill Montgomery, who is Mayor Baker’s Chief of Staff and one of eight candidates running for mayor, said personnel costs go up annually even as the city has made some cuts in the size of the workforce. Pension costs and the costs of health care for retirees amount to more than half of the increase in spending proposed in Mayor Baker’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2013.
“If you don’t properly fund your pension and health care, you’re not really keeping the promise that you made to those employees,” Montgomery said.
Meanwhile, city employees are being told for a fourth consecutive year not to expect an increase in salary. The incoming mayor will also need to address the loss of federal funding and grants that paid for several police and firefighter positions, and decide whether to retain and fund those positions.
City Councilman and mayoral candidate Kevin Kelley (D-6th District), who serves on Council’s finance committee, also sees health insurance as a major driving force behind Wilmington’s spending issues. The city also recently went to the bond market to pay for certain capital projects.
“We have to take a real hard look at the positions we have, what are the core services of the city, and what functions must we provide to the residents,” Kelley said. He sees public safety, public works and licenses and inspection as among Wilmington’s core functions.
Candidate Scott Spencer, whose background is primary in transit and transportation, also identified the heavy costs of public safety and providing health care for employees as major spending concerns in Wilmington. “You couple that with a revenue picture for the city that is flat at best,” said Spencer, who ran for U.S. House in 2010. “It’s a very challenging structural problem from both sides of the financial picture.”
Wilmington's Budget: Plans from current mayor and mayoral candidates
Reaction to Wilmington Mayor James Baker’s FY2013 Budget Address.
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Joshua Harvest Church Pastor Reverend Derrick Johnson said he would put a stop to “discretionary funding” being made available through the mayor’s office – something he called “cronyism” that has been going on for years.
“I believe the system of checks and balances is there for a reason, and that the mayor’s discretion should be limited to what the charter and the Constitution call for,” Johnson said.
State Representative Dennis P. Williams (D-Wilmington) said the city’s spending issues go back 16 years, long before the recent economic downtown. “We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again,” Williams said.
Solutions will not come easy, and candidates said much can change in a year or a matter of months.
Williams said if he’s elected he would undertake a complete audit of city government and go through it with a “fine-tooth comb.” He would reduce the city’s motor vehicle fleet, approach the state about possible solutions on matters such as health care for employees, and pursue relationships with the corporate community to take full sponsorship of such activities as the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival or the city’s 4th of July festivities.
“I do believe there need to be more public-private partnerships,” Williams said.
Johnson, meanwhile, said he would explore possible collaborations with New Castle County government or other entities on such matters as recreational opportunities for youth and families and transportation planning. Also, he would look at the possibility of reducing the reliance upon outside consultants and look in-house, a move Johnson said could increase city employee morale and productivity.
“I’d be looking to have greater collaboration with existing organizations, agencies, etc. and eliminate a lot of the disconnect that’s taking place,” Johnson said.
Montgomery said the administration is currently studying other policing models to determine if they might be appropriate for Wilmington’s force, and a request for proposals has been offered for a complete audit of the fire department and its operations. Also, there have been discussions on working with the county on consolidating IT and data processing operations.
Kelley said he would also look closely at the delivery of services, as well as city contracts, special events and other city government expenses. “We also have to look internally, how do we shrink the size of city government?” Kelley said. “People are frustrated. They don’t want to hear ‘more taxes.’ They want to hear ‘what kind of sacrifices are we going to make in government’ as they make every day in their lives.”
Spencer said he would go to the city’s employees for suggestions on where costs could be cut, or efficiency could be improved, and negotiate with unions to find a way for employees to receive a share of the savings. “We will take a look at all 16 departments within the city and find out if there are better ways to integrate or change those operations to be more efficient, and look at other opportunities for partnerships whether they be with the private sector or other agencies,” Spencer said.
State Senator Robert Marshall (D-Wilmington), local bail bondsman Robert Bovell and Selara Gatewood, running as “an advocate for change,” are also in the September 11th Democratic primary.
However, the inauguration of a new mayor is still ten months away, and as Mayor Baker noted during his FY ’13 budget address, “we’ve got a lot of work to do over the next several months and a lot of issues to debate and solve.”
The mayor’s spending plan of $143.4-million, 2.9-percent more than the current fiscal year, calls for no increases in taxes or city fees and requires no layoffs of city employees. However, it would result in a nine-percent increase in water and sewer rates. A projected deficit of $5.5-million now stands at $2.75-million. The Mayor also proposed to use the surplus from prior fiscal years to balance the budget.
“The next few years will be critical to our city’s future progress and development as we emerge from this economic downtown,” Mayor Baker said. “When we do emerge from it, I want to look back and know that we made the sacrifices we had to make in order to succeed with our goals, dreams and visions.”
Council President Norman Griffiths did not want to predict what council would do during the next few weeks of budget hearings, but he said Mayor Baker’s numbers seemed to be “within reason.” Griffiths is also disappointed in the reluctance of state lawmakers to consider allowing the city to increase its wage tax or to annex additional land – leaving it up to Wilmington to resolve its financial dilemma.
“We should always have a duty, council and the mayor’s office, to make sure we’re doing things efficiently and in the most cost-effective way we can,” Griffiths said.
The only Republican on council, Michael Brown, said Baker’s proposal is a good starting point for debate, which must result in an approved budget by the end of May.
“We have some issues in front of us, but they’re not as major as we thought they were,” Brown said.