Kent County Levy Court to use reserves to cover budget shortfall

DOVER – Over the past several weeks, Kent County Levy Court has been looking at its operational budget trying to figure out how to cover the county’s nearly $2 million shortfall. The commissioners have decided on a solution that won’t increase taxes or cut raises for county employees — they are dipping into their savings.

Levy Court came to this conclusion during their budget workshop on Wednesday.

“Some people call it a rainy-day fund, and, well, it might be raining outside,” said Levy Court President Terry Pepper.

When the discussion started, commissioners quickly concluded there was nowhere they felt they could cut, and Mr. Pepper noted the county had been proactive at putting money away in reserves over the years.

Another reason commissioners felt comfortable using the reserves is current year revenue, which has exceeded projections with time still left before the end of the fiscal year. The idea being that if revenues play out much the same next year, the actual amount they must take out of reserves would be less.

This decision, however, did not come without a word of warning.

“Certainly we can make it work for this year, but at some point, I do think if the expenses continue to grow at a faster rate, we’re gonna have to talk about revenues,” said County Administrator Ken Decker. “Because think of the cost of doing (business). I mean, inflation is still killing us. I’m hearing that from every department, the cost of chemicals, the cost of supplies, the cost of everything is just chipping away at us.”

Mr. Decker said that it is possible for Levy Court to balance the budget this way through the end of the decade, though that may not be the most sustainable. He recommended six months to a year of operating funds to be in reserves at any given time, which was estimated at the workshop to be around $18.5 million for six months.

Now that operational budget discussions are over, Levy Court will discuss its capital budget, the items on which are one-time purchases, like vehicles or buildings.