Some Wilmington City Council members highlighted key pieces of the recently passed city budget and legislation that didn’t make the cut Thursday.
The budget included no property tax increase, but water and sewer went up by 5.8 percent and stormwater by four percent.
Christian Willauer was on Wilmington’s Fines and Fees taskforce, created in 2022 to evaluate the way the city uses fines and fees in its budgeting. Willauer says fines for parking and traffic related citations proved to be a burden on low-income residents, and water bills are no different.
“It’s an essential need," Willhauer says. "And so the city has not gone far enough in addressing the fact that everybody needs water, and some people don’t have the money to pay the increasing rates.”
But Councilwoman Maria Cabrera says those would come with a fiscal impact, and the city has its own bills to worry about for infrastructure improvements.
“If we fix our pipes and make it desirable to live in Wilmington, I would think that’s a good thing," Cabrera says. "But they saw that as a way of gentrification, and the other people are going to move in and move the poor people out. So what does that say? That the poor people shouldn’t have clean water? That they shouldn’t have lead free pipes?”
Council included an additional $100,000 for the water utility assistance fund, but did not pass other legislation to prevent foreclosures and water shut offs for vulnerable populations with unpaid water bills.
Cabrera says the fund is underutilized, noting $200,000 remains from last year’s allocation.
Willauer argues the city doesn’t do enough to advertise the assistance is available.
Cabrera adds the city has its own financial needs to upgrade water infrastructure, and prepare for the EPA’s recent PFAS mandate.
The task force also recommended several revisions to the city’s parking and red light ticket fines, and legislation to address that is expected to be voted on in the coming weeks.
