The Conservation District is asking for $640,000 dollars from Sussex County for Fiscal Year 2027, an increase of nearly $300,000 dollars from its current county funding.
Conservation District staff says that funding goes toward initiatives like the tax ditch and cover crop programs, stormwater programs, as well as a new request for winter storm drain cleanup services, costing an additional $65,000.
The SCD reports their stormwater inspectors were able to approve 1,400 acres for proper draining in 2025 with 12 total stormwater employees.
The SCD also reports having 11 agriculture, 15 heavy equipment, and 5 admin staff, bringing them to 43 total employees on payroll.
SCD's cover crop program reports that the number of acres enrolled in their cover crop program has risen from just under 150,000 acres in 2016 to just below 200,000 acres in 2026- the amounts that were actually planted has also risen from under 50,000 acres planted in 2016 to just below 100,000 acres in 2026.
A portion would also help cover contracted services, like continuing the Conservation District’s equipment program to be utilized by the County’s Engineering and Public Works operations.
The ask comes as Council begins work on the Fiscal Year 27 budget. Councilman Steven McCarron.
“That certainly is going to be a part of the discussion. We know everything they do here is extremely important, but at the same time, there is a limited amount of tax dollars we can spend.” he said.
McCarron says the funding being requested cannot come from realty transfer tax money, limiting the available pool of money potentially available for the Conservation District.
“This is not something that comes out of transfer tax money, this is county tax collections. The County runs a pretty tight ship when it comes to that. So, this is an appropriate time to ask. This is an appropriate time to ask, and it’s an important organization to us… so we have a couple months to digest it.” he told DPM.
The ask amounts to around an 80% increase compared to the county’s current $350,000 contribution.
