Sussex County enacts $7M in budget-saving measures in face of economic downturn

Georgetown, Del., Jan. 20, 2009: Faced with a nearly $8 million revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year, Sussex County Council will take several steps, including suspending capital projects, parking County vehicles and freezing non-essential overtime, to keep its operating budget balanced.

County Council, at its Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, meeting, voted unanimously to accept a series of cost-saving recommendations totaling more than $7.3 million. The move is intended to whittle expenses in the general fund portion of the 2009 budget, which runs through June 30.

In all, the reductions to both operating and capital expenses stand to save County taxpayers approximately $7.3 million in the current budget year and help close the budget gap within the $54.8 million general fund. All departments will begin to carry out the reductions immediately.

“Just as the people have had to tighten their belts, government, too, has to make the difficult decisions necessary to put our budget back on solid ground with sound footing,” Council President Vance C. Phillips said. “This is a new age of fiscal responsibility.”

County Administrator David B. Baker and his staff, including Finance Director Susan M. Webb, Budget and Cost Manager Kathy L. Roth, and Accounting Director Gina A. Jennings, have spent the past few weeks reviewing the County’s overall $142 million budget for 2009 – that includes capital and sewer -- and asking department heads to suggest ways to reduce costs.

Among some of the budget committee’s recommendations for reducing operating costs, the County can realize up to $2.5 million in savings by:

  • Reducing staff. Vacant non-essential positions will remain unfilled, or be filled by hiring from within or through departmental reorganizations [$1.03 million];
  • Re-evaluating grants issued by County Council, including those to open space preservation, community improvement, and sewer and water customers [$561,749];
  • Reducing the purchase of certain machinery and equipment [$188,327];
  • Curtailing attendance of County staff at seminars and conferences [$116,093];
  • Eliminating the purchase of certain office supplies [$96,897];
  • Instituting a voluntary furlough policy [$21,736];
  • Reducing the number of take-home vehicles, except for on-call staff [$17,166];
  • Trimming printing costs, such as suspending production of the semi-annual County newsletter and encouraging paper conservation [$7,957];
  • Ending the purchase of bottled water for departments [$1,400].

Additionally, the budget committee recommended delaying various capital projects, including a $2.5 million storm water improvement project at the Sussex County Airport, a $250,000 communications equipment storage facility to support the new 911 center, and holding off on approximately $1 million in various property purchases. Those and other delayed projects could save the County an additional $4.8 million.

Mr. Baker said he is confident County departments will manage the cuts adequately, and that services to the public will not suffer.

“These are difficult cuts to make. But we feel we need to make some changes in how we operate, in this budget year and certainly in the budget year to come,” Mr. Baker said. “As we begin the 2010 budget process now, Sussex County will continue to look for ways to live within its means, particularly in these uncertain economic times.”

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