City approves 2021 budget

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During its meeting Monday, Delaware City Council approved the city’s 2021 budget. While the ordinance to approve the budget still went through its mandatory three readings, approval in November marks the earliest the city has approved the appropriations for the upcoming year.

City Manager Tom Homan recognized during the meeting a “milestone for city council” with approval of the budget coming before the end of November.

“Typically, the city manager’s budget would be due on the 15th of November, and we would take up most of December to get it adopted,” Homan said. “But with an accelerated budget schedule, we have a staff that has allowed us to complete it and have you adopt it tonight. I want to commend (Finance Director) Justin Nahvi and his staff … for working so diligently on getting the budget pulled together within the constraints that we had outlined.”

Homan added that approval of the budget is “one of the most important decisions” council makes over the course of a year.

In the approved budget, appropriations for 2021 are shown to total $120,939,264. The general fund shows a balance of $25,875,874, and a balance of $1,288,864 is shown for the city’s general reserve fund.

The Delaware Police Department makes up a significant portion of the general fund with a total balance of $10,128,465, $8,956,340 of which is dedicated to personnel. Fire and EMS services are shown as the single largest appropriation at $12,980,650, $9,820,895 of which is dedicated to personnel.

As work on The Point continues to move forward, the Point Project Capital Fund, dedicated to funding the total reconstruction of The Point at the intersection of U.S. Route 36 and state Route 37, shows a balance of $2,350,000.

Delaware’s Street Maintenance and Repair Fund shows $4,412,241 in total funding, $1,894,834 of which is for personnel. In the street maintenance subcategory of the fund, a balance of $1,690,773 is shown specifically for street repairs.

Other significant fund totals in the 2021 budget include appropriations of $5,236,366 for the Capital Improvement Fund, $2,311,347 in the Parks and Recreation Fund, $3,181,000 for the Delaware Municipal Court, $6,643,604 in total for the Water Fund, and $7,719,283 for the Sewer Fund.

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By Dillon Davis

[email protected]

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.

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