Wood: No 'Draconian' changes in town budget

The Ocean View Town Council got through most of the budget and capital improvement plan on Tuesday evening before calling it a night and starting their regular council meeting. The council plans to meet again in the next week to go over the rest of the plan before the first public hearing on the matter, set for Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.

The proposed budget recommends keeping the 8 percent per year real estate property tax increase instituted last year and keeping staff health insurance premiums covered at 100 percent by the town, although Mayor Gordon Wood admitted that the latter is not a cost the town can keep “absorbing.” He also said he did not want to do anything “Draconian” to this year’s budget.

Although those premiums increased by 19 percent this year, instead of the budgeted 10 percent, the town council was unified in their approach to not make any major changes to this year’s budget regarding the premiums.

Councilman Bill Wichman said he would not be in favor of changing existing employees’ health coverage but would consider new employees having different packages. Town Manager Conway Gregory said that most area towns cover employees’ premiums at 100 percent, but he noted that Millsboro just changed to cover only 100 percent of the employees’ premiums and just 50 percent of the premiums for their family members.

Resident Steve Cobb expressed frustration with the council’s approach, saying that waiting until next year does nothing to solve the problem.

“If 68 percent of our budget is personnel-driven, I am a little shocked to hear you say, ‘Wait until next year.’ We are not solving the problem. I am appalled that there … is not a plan at this meeting to solve it. To take 67 percent of the budget and say, ‘We’ll address it next year’ – that’s how a structural deficit occurs. So you let the people like me be the bad guys and say, ‘We can’t do that.’”

Wood said waiting will allow the council to see what the next state legislative session will bring, which is important to it’s the town’s bottom line, since much of the town’s current funding issues stem from a lack of Municipal Street Aid funds (which were slashed to nothing last year), less county funding for police and the unknown future of transfer tax percentages from the state. “Otherwise we are talking about firing people,” he emphasized.

Cobb replied, “This was last year’s problem that we brought forth to this year, and now we are putting it on to next year.”

The council also discussed on Feb. 16 considering a charter change to alter the property tax reassessment schedule from every five years to every seven years, which they thought might provide a considerable savings to the town.

Ultimately, though, they decided if they do go through with a charter change, they would word it so it would be flexible. For example, the proposed wording might be “not less than five years but not more than seven.” They decided that, for this year’s budget process, they would leave the reassessment period at five years, since it actually appears to work out to be cheaper over the long run.

The council on Tuesday also discussed the lifespan of the town’s police vehicle fleets and reached a consensus that they would not defer street repairs, despite the lack of MSA funding in 2009 and the funding’s unknown status for 201. They also discussed making a public works facility a priority, and the mayor challenged the council to be on the lookout for property to be used or purchased for that purpose.

Additionally, the council discussed possibly renting out the former administrative office space at 32 West Avenue to entities such as the University of Delaware’s continuing education program, for added revenue, and they discussed charging fees to people wanting to use the building. In the past, as long as one person requesting to use the building lived in Ocean View even part-time, they could use the building free of charge.

Finally, the council suggested keeping the Emergency Reserve Trust Fund funded at $375,000 and broadening its usage to include emergencies on a smaller scale, such as for West View drainage problems.

“I can’t imagine a hurricane costing the town money other than to clean it up,” said the mayor. “And if we had a tornado, all our stuff is insured.”

Former Councilman Roy Thomas suggested that $375,000 probably is too high, but “We wouldn’t want to rush into a decision. If the state wipes out the transfer tax in two years, that will be gone.”

Wood replied, “I hate to admit it, but I agree with Mr. Thomas.”

The council will finish their workshop discussions of the budget and financial plan sometime in the next week and will hold the first of two public hearings on the budget next Tuesday at 6 p.m. at 32 West Avenue, where public comments will be encouraged. The second public hearing will be held Saturday, March 6. The final budget is on track to be adopted in April.