The town of Camden will enter a new fiscal year with its budget still up in the air.
A standing room only crowd gathered at a Town Council meeting earlier this month. While only a handful of attendees spoke to council members, those who did took council to task over the proposed budget. That budget contains what business owners contend is an out-of-proportion property tax hike.
Some urged lawmakers to dip into the town’s healthy reserve fund, which has around $3 million available. But, said Mayor Larry Dougherty, the money in savings is generating enough interest to cover mortgage payments on the town’s administration building.
“We've got the money now to pay it off - that $3 million. But we can't pay it off because the penalties involved in municipal bonds are so very high you can't afford to pay it off," he said.
John Paradee, an attorney representing a group of Camden business owners told council it is bound by the town’s charter to follow Kent County’s regulations when making changes to tax policy.
“That doesn't appear to be happening here," he said. "It appears that the budget you're proposing would put a disproportionate burden of the property tax increase on commercial properties, rather than spreading it uniformly across the town.”
Paradee called on Town Council to postpone a vote pending further discussion with business owners, something that council members were receptive to.
The four members present voted unanimously to postpone a vote, probably until their July 7th meeting. That means the town will enter the new fiscal year without an approved budget, but it will continue to operate using the current year’s figures.
