Georgetown, Del., Sept. 21, 2010: Sussex County government is receiving some positive financial news, and that will mean more money in the pockets of police and fire companies and local taxpayers.

County Council, at its Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010, meeting, approved a plan to return nearly $600,000 in excess general fund revenue that a preliminary report shows was above expenditures in the budget year that ended June 30. An official audit will be in hand by the end of the year, but County leaders expert the numbers to be in line with preliminary findings.

In all, officials estimate the County collected $613,000 in added revenue in Fiscal 2010, thanks in part to a variety of factors, including reduced grants to local fire companies and police, budget savings on the part of County staff, and a slowly improving economy.

County Council approved using $250,000 of the excess revenue to waive the $3-per-person capitation tax in next year’s tax billings; using $200,000 to recognize employees who have helped reduce costs by 16 percent in the past two years; restoring to 90 percent, or $2,500 each for a total of $52,500, aid to municipal police departments; and fully funding fire service grants with $91,854.

“The money belongs to the people,” County Council President Vance Phillips said. “When there is excess, it should be returned.”

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