Wilmington City Council passed a 6% property tax increase and a 5% increase in sewer and water rates in the 2023 Fiscal Year Budget.
Council approved a $176.9 million operating budget, up $4.1 million from last year, and a $82.1 million water and sewer budget, up $2.1 million from last year.
The property tax increase is the first in five years, but is not what Mayor Mike Purzycki was hoping for. He originally proposed a 7.5% increase.
4th District Councilwoman Michelle Harlee says she wanted to wait before increasing taxes too much, but voted to approve the budget.
“And then in two years, or even next year, if what we talked about and discussed as opportunities to see us be in a better position financially doesn’t happen, then we can make some of those harder decisions at that point in time," Harlee said. "But the jury is still out in terms of how much funding we can get in the next two years without us raising those taxes right now versus a year from now or two years from now.”
Ten council members voted ‘yes’ on the budget, with 3 ‘no’s’ coming from At-Large Council Member James Spadola, 2nd District Council Member Shané Darby, and Council President Trippi Congo.
Congo and said in a statement he believes more ARPA funds should have been used to offset this year’s shortfall, since that is their primary intended use.
To help balance the FY2023 Budget, $12 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds were used for revenue replacements, which helped fill the budgetary gap and create a $9.5M budget surplus.
Harlee says she advocated trimming the mayor’s proposal even further to 5.5%, since federal ARPA funds can be used for revenue replacements, but can’t be used for sewer and water revenue.
“When you look at the big picture and you look at longevity and you look at sustainability, it was the right thing to increase the water and sewage to 5%," Harlee said. "We have to have clean water, that’s a necessity, and we could not use the ARPA funds for that.”
The budget also eliminated 4 vacant positions 4 in the Mayor's office, and 7 in the Wilmington Police Department, and includes an audit of the department as well.
