Lawson talks reassessment, election results, trends

Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson spoke at a Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce luncheon recently, where he addressed all the hits – reassessment, election results, economic impact and building trends.

Lawson has been county administrator since 2012. He’s the sixth administrator, but the first Sussex County native to hold the job. He began by addressing the results of the recent election.

There will be a lot of new faces in new positions, said Lawson, referencing that three of five council seats are changing. The last time that happened was in 2008, and shortly after, the county administrator resigned, he said.

“Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again,” said Lawson, drawing a laugh.

Citing a recent study released by the University of Delaware, Lawson said the coastal economy brings in $10.4 billion in additional economic revenue annually. Since 2001, the state’s coastal economy has grown five times faster than the rest of the state, he said.

It’s important that those in Dover and Washington, D.C., recognize what the coastal economy brings to the state, said Lawson.

In terms of reassessment, after a years-long process, Lawson said the county has begun to mail out value notices. He urged people to not apply the existing tax rate of 44.5 cents per $100 to the new value.

“You will be alarmed if you do,” said Lawson. “The goal is not to have a mutiny in Georgetown when the bills come out, but a lot of people won’t be paying attention until the bill comes out.”

Instead, said Lawson, there may not be a comparative jump in the tax being paid, because the rate will have to be decreased. The county has scheduled a formal appeals process to take place in the spring, he said.

Lawson also highlighted a number of economic development initiatives the county has recently undertaken.

There’s the ExciteSussex Fund, a partnership between the county and Discover Bank that is aimed at business expansion and attraction. Lawson said this fund has grown from $4 million to $16 million. To date, he said, the county has funded nine projects totaling about $7 million that have created nearly 300 jobs across Georgetown, Milford, Seaford, Millsboro and Bethany Beach.

There’s the Site Readiness Fund, which provides grants, loans and economic development assistance to qualified businesses and local governments for site development. Lawson said the county has assisted four Sussex County businesses totaling $3.185 million in grant funding to date.

There’s also the Sussex Kitchen Incubator that opened in Georgetown last year. Lawson said there are currently 34 members, with another in the membership process.

Lawson went into a few building and construction trends. There’s been a 3% decrease in the total number of building permits issued by the county, but there’s been a slight increase in dwelling and residential permits, he said.

As for zoning trends, there are still significantly more site-plan reviews than rezoning requests, conditional-use requests, major subdivision applications and board of adjustment applications. However, the overall numbers are down across the board, he said.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that the county’s new tax rate still has to be set.