Dover City Council votes on its 2021 budget Monday.
The spending plan includes changes made to account for lost revenue due to COVID-19.
Property taxes are expected to remain the same that were paid last year. While the rate will be dropping $0.035 per $1000 of assessed property, all properties were reassessed last year, so the rate decrease and the value increase cancel each other out.
The plan also changed significantly from what it was initially when it was started back in September. Funding for many capital projects to improve public buildings and replace outdated equipment was deferred for another year.
Many departments also saw their staff proposals rejected. The city has recommended a hiring freeze for the year.
Donna Mitchell is the city manager. She explains why the city decided not to hire more staff.
“But for next year we did get requests for a new headcount. But we did not put any in the budget at this time because we don’t know how well our revenues are gonna track with COVID-19.”
The way customers are charged for water use will also be changing. Customers will be charged based on two tiers of use, those that use under 6,000 gallons per year, and those that use more.
Mitchell says most people will see themselves in the lower tier
“Most of our customers are in Tier 1, Residential are all tier 1. The ones that get over the 6000 is when you get into the commercial and industrial classes.”
Rates for those in tier 1 will drop by 51 cents while those in tier 2 will see an 11 cent increase.
Code Enforcement is also getting an increase in their budget for demolishing buildings.
Mitchell says that the Code Enforcement department is planning to more aggressively pursue action on removing abandoned and derelict properties in the city in the coming year.
The Dover city council meeting will be held virtually on Monday at 7pm. Citizens can tune in by calling 1-408-418-9388 and using the password “DOVER” if needed.
Roman Battaglia is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
