What do you get for your Sussex County taxes?

The state of Delaware is now the largest employer in the state, and it’s a safe bet that Sussex County government – with more than 500 employees – is among the leading employers in the county.

It takes a lot of money to run the county – about $140 million overall, which includes about $47 million in the operating budget. The remaining funds include capital and sewer and water projects.

Surprisingly, less than $12 million in revenue comes from property taxes. County property taxes are among the lowest in the region. County elected officials are proud that taxes have been raised since Nixon was in office (that’s a little bit of an exaggeration).

In case you were wondering, fees, state grants, rentals and investments make up most of the other revenue in the operating fund, which has shrunk from $63 million in 2007 to $47 million in 2011, about the same amount it was in 2010 and 2009.

So what do you get for your county taxes?

To start, it depends where you live. If you live in a town, some county services are taken off the table, such as planning and zoning and inspections in most county towns. Yet, everyone pays the same county tax rate. You don’t get a break if you live in a town.

To be honest, coming from the side of municipalities, I’ve been a critic over the years of what the county does and doesn’t do, but when you actually sit down and list the services, it’s an impressive number.

The county provides mapping and addressing, tax collection, an airport, economic development, a 911-dispatch center (except in Rehoboth Beach and Seaford), assessment, dog control through the Kent County SPCA, $7 million in grants to agencies, fire departments, police and libraries and row office services (sheriff, clerk of the peace, register of wills and recorder of deeds).

The county also provides a state-of-the-art emergency operations center.

Paramedic services – throughout the county – are the most demanding and expensive provided by the county. The budget for 2011 is $11.8 million.

Since paramedic services are provided to town residents as well, from time to time talk surfaces at county council that towns should contribute funding to the program. The discussions rarely go very far.

Thousands of county residents – most live in eastern Sussex around the Inland Bays – are in county water and sewer districts. The districts are designed to pay for themselves so rates vary.

The county also provides land-use services, such as permitting, inspections and planning and zoning.

In one of the oddities in policies, town residents not only need a building permit from their town but also a county building permit.

Although there is not a county police force, the county provides funding for additional state police troopers to patrol the county’s roads.

The towns of Greenwood and Milton and the Ocean View area have county-funded libraries.

You also contribute to the $620,000 combined budget for county council, planning and zoning and board of adjustment.

So where is the county lacking? That’s the topic for another blog. Here’s a hint – think of pools, trails and summer camps.