Georgetown, Del., June 14, 2011: Gasoline prices, unemployment and the overall health of the national economy may remain unknowns for the foreseeable future, but Sussex County residents and property owners can bank on at least one certainty: County government will keep local taxes the same and government spending under control for yet another year.

Sussex County Council, following a public hearing Tuesday, June 14, 2011, unanimously approved an amended $140.8 million budget for the 2012 fiscal year that begins July 1. Like the budget that ends with the fiscal year June 30, the newly adopted plan calls for no increase in County property taxes and maintains limited spending in the year ahead.

The adopted budget keeps in place the County’s property tax rate of 44.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, making this the 22nd consecutive year in which the rate has remained the same. The average annual County tax bill for a single-family home remains at about $106. Meantime, the adopted budget eliminates the County’s $3 per person capitation tax for 2012, putting that money – even if just a few dollars per household – back into taxpayers’ pockets.

Sewer rates for some customers – $8 or $15 annually, depending on the sewer district – will increase, though, as the County continues its efforts to implement uniform service charges for the bulk of its more than 64,000 sewer customers. That annual charge, which has varied among the County’s nearly two dozen sewer districts, pays for operations and maintenance of the public systems. The increases are needed to keep up with aging infrastructure.

The budget, which comprises the general fund, water and sewer, and capital portions, was proposed to be down slightly from the 2010-11 fiscal year by about $700,000, or one-half of 1 percent. However, Council amended the proposal by including $1.6 million in additional funding – half of that in the form of an expected matching grant from the State – for the Greenwood Library construction project, bringing the final budget to $140.8 million for 2011-12.

The general fund portion of the budget is expected to increase $1.1 million, or 2.4 percent. That increase will be fueled by an expected $870,000 bump in realty transfer tax revenue during the 2011-2012 budget year, the first measurable gain in that revenue source in the last few years. For Fiscal 2012, Sussex County expects to collect $13.6 million in realty transfer tax revenue, a 7 percent increase over the current year’s budget.

“This is a modest budget that keeps the County government funded and local services in place, but it shows some glimmer of hope,” County Administrator David B. Baker said. “We are cautiously optimistic that, at least locally, the county is seeing some positive economic signs. The County, however, will continue to tread carefully in its spending for the next year.”

The adopted budget includes no layoffs or mandatory furloughs for employees that governments elsewhere have considered, and includes a 2 percent cost of living adjustment for employees, the first increase in three years. Benefits such as dental and vision reimbursement, vacation, sick leave and holidays, as well as a zero-employee-contribution pension plan, remain intact.

The new budget continues the County’s trend of limited spending in the next year, with the general fund – the portion that pays for the day-to-day operations of County government – using no appropriated reserves. The County will continue to look for savings by reducing purchases, limiting new hires, cross-training employees and curtailing travel when possible.

“It seems that all we hear nowadays is doom and gloom when it comes to the economy,” Council President Michael H. Vincent said. “It’s refreshing to be able to give the public some good news. Sussex County is fortunate, and we are proud to continue the tradition of keeping taxes low and government spending under control. The public deserves that.”

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Copies of the Fiscal Year 2012 budget, the accompanying budget letter and original news release issued May 17, 2011, are posted on the county’s website at sussexcountyde.gov.