City Council to begin budget deliberations

posted on 4/25/2022

The City Council concluded its departmental budget presentations last week, and its focus will now shift to general budget review and deliberations. These deliberations will begin, if time allows, at a Wednesday, April 27 workshop. Deliberations will continue on Wednesday, May 4.

Last week on April 20, the City Council held a public hearing on the city portion of the Fiscal Year 2023 Proposed Budget at a special meeting. Following the public hearing were the departmental presentations of the Police and Fire departments at the Council's third budget workshop. Video recordings of the public hearing and workshops are available on the FY2023 Budget Revealed webpage. The webpage also contains presentations slides used during the workshops. 

Below is a brief recap of the April 20 budget presentations.

Dover Fire and Rescue

Dover Fire and Rescue's proposed budget for fiscal year 2023 totals $12,349,470, a $2,000,178 increase, or 19.3%. The Fire and Rescue budget consists of several divisions, including administration, suppression and building inspection services.

Key 2023 fiscal year objectives include: 

• Funding the activation of a third emergency ambulance to address multiple simultaneous calls and improve response time. The $178,000 cost of equipping an additional ambulance would be covered 100% by grant funds.
• Grant funds would also cover the $945,000 first-year personnel and equipment costs of eight new firefighters/EMS required for 24 hours a day, seven days a week staffing. Grant funds would cover 75% of personnel costs in the second year and 50% in the third year. In the fourth year, it would be 100% covered by the general fund.
• Oversee the implementation of the new online permitting software that will create a more efficient, convenient and transparent system.

Dover Police

Dover Police Department's proposed budget for fiscal year 2023 totals $10,449,863, a $457,367 increase, or 4.6%. The Police Department budget consists of several divisions and programs, including administration, field operations, special investigations, police support, drug enforcement, the Parking Activity Fund, and public safety dispatch.

Continued fiscal year 2023 objectives of the Police Department include:

• Keeping pace with city growth and changing community needs impacting services demands
• Developing and maintaining a well-trained, highly performing staff
• Appropriately addressing the community's needs to limit police involvement in non-criminal issues.

Remaining FY2023 City Council budget schedule

All meetings/workshops below occur on Wednesdays.

• April 27 - at 6 p.m. - Budget workshop - General budget review, to follow discussion on redistricting
• May 4 at 6 p.m. - Budget workshop - General budget review
• May 4 - Immediately following budget workshop - Special meeting - Budget adoption
• May 11 at 7 p.m. - Regular meeting - Fallback budget adoption date