Milton council hears from citizens on budget

Milton Town Council’s Aug. 19 meeting was both about making final changes to its fiscal year 2025 budget and facing the music from citizens voicing their feelings about the budget’s proposed 30-plus percent property tax increase.

The public hearing is one of the last pieces of business council is required to do prior to voting to approve the budget, which will happen in September, although a date has not yet been finalized. The budget must be in place by Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The public hearing started with Mayor John Collier apologizing to council and the public for abruptly leaving the council’s Aug. 5 meeting after a tense exchange with Vice Mayor Lee Revis-Plank. Collier said he “became uncivil” during discussion of the budget at that meeting and made the choice to remove himself from the meeting. 

The main reason for the tension is the proposed 11-cent jump in property taxes from $0.324 per $100 of assessed value to $0.434 per $100, an increase of between 30 and 34 percent. Town Manager Kristy Rogers has said the rationale for the increase is to wean the town off the use of reserve funds and transfer tax revenue to balance the budget. The recommendation for a tax increase was part of a report by financial advisor firm PFM Consulting to improve the town’s long-range financial planning. According to PFM’s report, the town is on a path to have its expenses exceed its revenues. Rogers has said if the town continues to use reserves and transfer tax revenue to balance the budget, those sources will eventually dry up. 

The budget has a $13,000 surplus, with $4.2 million in revenues – $2.5 million of which comes from the tax increase – and $3.8 million in expenditures. However, $350,000 of that revenue is restricted in its use and is subtracted from the overall surplus.

Nearly all of the public comment Aug. 19 questioned the need for the tax increase or wondered why the town could not find an alternate method of raising revenue. One consistency in many of the comments is why the town is choosing not to use transfer tax revenues, which citizens argued would decrease the amount the town needs to increase property taxes.  

Tom Tobin of 113 Marshall St. said in an email that the town has not communicated clearly why it needs the tax increase. He said citizens have not heard the town do a review of its expenditures, particularly in the police department, which accounts for 49 percent of the town’s expenditures budget. 

Don Mazzeo, 113 Isle Lane, also questioned the town’s expenditures, such as a proposed 10 percent increase in employee salaries and consulting fees. Mazzeo said he found the withdrawal of transfer tax revenue – which is likely to increase over time – from the budget and placing the burden of the town’s revenue squarely on citizens to be alarming and shocking, and detrimental to all Miltonians. He favored the approach of winding down the use of transfer tax over time and doing property tax increases more incrementally.

Steve Mannoia said he worked in the private sector and has seen budgets that were bigger and more well put together than Milton’s. He said over the last three years, council has raised property taxes nearly 70 percent, which he described as “a criminal act.” He said continued tax increases will have a negative impact on property values and cause people to leave town.

Doug Ross also questioned the decision to not use transfer tax revenue. In response, Mayor John Collier said Milton is reaching the point where the town has gone for years using transfer taxes to balance the budget in lieu of any tax increases, but that has caused the town to put aside projects that could otherwise be funded with transfer tax revenue, which has certain restrictions on its use. 

“There’s just too many things that have been pushed aside. ‘Well, we’ll do it tomorrow.’ I don’t like raising taxes. I live on a fixed income,” Collier said. “But I don’t like the idea that by not taking a stand, potentially what I would allow to occur on my watch is long-term damage to the fiscal health of this community.”

Allen Sangree said the transfer tax revenues are being used to fund future municipal projects and service the town’s debt. He argued that the real reason for the property tax increase is because town officials have embraced a growth-at-all-costs mentality after annexing four properties in two years, and the town’s infrastructure is not prepared to handle that sort of growth. 

Following public comment, the discussion went back to council. Right off the bat, a proposed program to upgrade the town’s website and create an app was postponed for this year’s budget. Council questioned Rogers and town department heads as the council went through the budget department by department. 

Rogers said, regarding the tax increase and the idea of doing a more incremental increase by using transfer tax revenue, “It’s looking at past years of accumulating inflation. It’s about past years of bad decisions catching up to us. We can strategize. We need to start closing the revenue-to-expense gap or you’re never going to catch up.”

When Councilman Tom Arkinson asked Rogers if the council goes through with the larger increase this year, does that mean that future increases will be mostly just to keep up with inflation, Rogers answered yes. 

Council also went into a discussion of the $1.8 million police budget. In response to a question by Councilwoman Randi Meredith about whether the town should continue budgeting for two open positions on the police force that have not yet been filled, Chief Derrick Harvey said it is very difficult to recruit to Milton’s department due to differences in pay with other municipalities. Harvey said Lewes, for example, has a starting pay of $62,000, while, if the 2025 budget is approved, Milton’s would be $52,000. He said police staffing is going to be needed to provide adequate coverage for the area, particularly when new developments begin to come online. 

Rogers said the town did take steps this year to put off the need for another full-time officer by hiring seasonal officers. 

Revis-Plank suggested a series of increases to the fee schedule, including increasing building permit fees and administrative fees for new construction, as well as fees related to the community enhancement and emergency services fund, which supports emergency services and town-wide amenities such as parks and streets.