Water/Sewer Fund FY 2021 Budget

The Water/Sewer Fund has a Fiscal Year 2021 Budget of $77,807,833 in expenditures and $79,216,541 in revenues.

Click here for a Citizen's Guide to the Budget Process. Learn how the Budget is created and view a timeline of events.

Click here to view the FY 2021 Budget Book and here to read the FY 2021 Budget Ordinance.

Click here for a glossary of terms used in this page and the FY 2021 Budget Book.

FY 2021 Budget Highlights

The FY 2021 Water/Sewer Fund operating budget is $77,807,833 – down $117,807, or 0.2% from FY 2020. The FY 2021 Budget continues to support the high-priority initiatives essential to achieving financially self-sustaining and environmentally-sound water, sewer, and stormwater utilities. These include an accelerated Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) mitigation effort and finished water filtration and supply improvements that exceed EPA standards, contributing to the stability of northern Delaware’s water supply, especially in times of drought.

There are no increases to water, sewer, and stormwater rates.

Funding of $617,300 ($417,300 in the General Fund - $200,000 in the Water/Sewer Fund) was included in the budget to complete implementation of the City's comprehensive 311 information call center and constituent service request tracking system. The 311 system, which is now available, enables residents to call one number (311) for all non-emergency requests for service and information about City services and programs. Click here to learn more!

The City has contracted with a new firm, Jacobs, to operate and maintain the City's sewage treatment plant as well as manage the City’s renewable energy bio-solids facility (REBF). These functions, which were previously handled by three separate vendors, will now be administered through a single contract with Jacobs. As a result, Public Works realized a budget savings of over $1.7 million in Contracted Maintenance Services.

Click here for more FY 2021 Budget Highlights.

Breakdown of FY 2021 Budgeted Expenditures by Type

Breakdown of FY 2021 Budgeted Expenditures by Department

Water/Sewer Fund Staffing Levels Over Past 5 Years*

*Note: City staffing levels are measured in units of full-time equivalents (FTE). Many positions in the City are split-funded, which may result in a fractional FTE. For example, a position could be funded 60% from the General Fund and 40% from the Water/Sewer Fund, resulting in a 0.40 FTE in the Water/Sewer Fund.

Breakdown of FY 2021 Budgeted Revenues by Type

Overview of Budgeted Revenues

Total Water/Sewer Fund revenues are projected to be $79,216,541 in FY 2021, a decrease of $4.4 million, or 5.3%, below the FY 2020 budget. This is an $5.2 million reduction from the pre-COVID-19 proposed revenue estimate.

Direct User Fees, the Water/Sewer Fund's largest source of revenue, are projected to be almost $48.2 million. These revenues are expected to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a projected decrease of about $6.8 million from FY 2020, or 12.3%. There are no increases to water or sewer rates in FY 2021.

Stormwater Billings are the revenues derived from the Stormwater Property Fee, which is charged to all property owners in the City. The fee is not based on a consumption factor, but rather on the size of property and the characteristics of associated land and buildings as they relate to the generation of stormwater runoff. The Stormwater Billings base for FY 2021 is nearly $8.5 million. After allowing for a total of $425,000 in uncollectable accounts, a total of $8.1 million is projected for FY 2021, an increase of $44,000 over FY 2020. We currently estimate no impact due to COVID. There are no increases to stormwater rates in FY 2021.

New Castle County Sewer Services is the revenue associated with the City’s treatment of sewage from New Castle County. The City and County are currently in the process of finalizing a new sewer contract, and the County has begun providing an increased monthly payment. Based on this, NCC Sewer revenues are projected to increase by $2.3 million in FY 2021, to a new total of nearly $21.9 million.