New Castle, DE – A little more than a month since proposing his fiscal year 2022 budget, County Executive Meyer saw his proposed operating and capital budgets passed by New Castle County Council with a vote of 13-0. County Executive Meyer outlined his budget online to County Council, as well as to a small audience in person at the DuPont Environmental Education Center on March 23.
The County’s budget for the next fiscal year will make historic investments to preserve parks and farmland and also in community programs to reduce violence. The budget also includes funding for 1000 Kids Coding, a program created by the Meyer Administration to teach teens and young adults to develop software, as well as investments in a new library, scheduled to open next year, and park in the Middletown, Odessa and Townsend area.
The budget also sets a minimum wage for all full-time county employees of $15 per hour and invests to convert an increasing number of county government cars to electric vehicles.
The proposed operational budget for Council’s consideration is $311,612,237, a 2.68% increase from the current fiscal year and the proposed capital budget, including both General Fund and Sewer Fund projects, totals $60,375,522, a 7.5% decrease from the current year, as the County continues to manage the debt load. With these proposed budgets, there will be no tax increase.
The full FY2022 budget can be downloaded HERE.
“I am thankful to the members of Council for their careful review of the annual budget, and I am grateful for their continued collaboration in maintaining the financial health of our county,” said County Executive Meyer.
The County Executive is expected to sign the budget into law in the coming days.
The budget highlights include County Executive Meyer calling for a $15 minimum wage for all full-time New Castle County employees, expanding Summer Youth Employment Program, increased investments for libraries, parks, and public safety for southern New Castle County residents, and additional investments in New Castle County’s Community Intervention Team.
County Executive Meyer also turned his attention to the environment by budgeting $7.3m in open space, parkland and farm land over the next two years and investing in additional electric cars for the County’s fleet.