Water/Sewer Fund FY 2020 Budget

The Water/Sewer Fund has a Fiscal Year 2020 Budget of $77,925,640 in expenditures and $83,663,000 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 2020 Budget Book and here to read the FY 2020 Budget Ordinance.

Click here for a glossary of terms used in this page and the FY 2020 Budget Book.

FY 2020 Budget Highlights

The FY 2020 operating budget expenditures total $77,925,640 – up $2,476,020, or 3.2% from FY 2019. The FY 2020 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.

The budget contains a $161,100 allowance for an up to 2.0% cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) salary increase for eligible employees. In addition, mandatory anniversary salary step increases for classified service employees added $75,650 to the budget. Lastly, the latest biennial employee appeals process led to an increase of $45,271.

Staffing increased by a net total of 1.80 full-time equivalents (FTE) and includes changes made in the mid-FY 2019 budget amendment. The change in FTEs, along with other personnel actions, including changes in grades and salary adjustments, resulted in a total net increase of $177,804.

The Indirect Cost expense to the Water/Sewer Fund rose by nearly $2.3 million, reflecting the effect of the new Department of Information Technologies created in the General Fund. However, that increase is almost completely offset by the approximately $2.2 million in savings resulting from the elimination of chargebacks to departments for IT services.

Revisions to certain water and sewer customer classes and rates resulted in a weighted-average increase of 3.82% in the water/sewer bills of City residential customers. The typical City residential customer using 4,000 gallons per month will see their bill increase by about $2.21.

Click here for more FY 2020 Budget Highlights.

Breakdown of FY 2020 Budgeted Expenditures by Type

Breakdown of FY 2020 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 2020 Budgeted Revenues by Type

Overview of Budgeted Revenues

Total Water/Sewer Fund revenues are projected to increase by $2.5 million, to a new total of almost $83.7 million in FY 2020.

The base amount of Water/Sewer User Fees has been growing in recent years as a result of rate increases to stabilize the Fund. FY 2020 base billings, which are forecasted through financial modeling using current consumption data, are projected to be $49.8 million. Revisions to some customer classes and rates are projected to yield an additional $1.2 million in revenue, equivalent to a weighted average increase of 2.7%. Revenue from special sewer fees and other miscellaneous sources will contribute $4.9 million, up $666,000 from FY 2019. Finally, subtracting the allowance for doubtful accounts ($1.02 million) results in a net total User Fees projection of $54.9 million, an increase of $2.57 million from the FY 2019 budget. For the average City residential customer, this increase (combined with unchanged stormwater rates, see below) results in a total bill increase of 3.82%, or $2.21 per month. There is no increase for County water customers.

The Stormwater Property Fee is charged to all property owners in the City. The fee is not based on a consumption factor, but rather on the size of a property and the characteristics of that parcel's land and buildings as they relate to the generation of stormwater runoff. The Stormwater Billings base for FY 2020 is $8.45 million. After allowing a total of $423,000 for uncollectible accounts, $8.03 million in revenue is projected for FY 2020, a net decrease of $16,000 relative to the FY 2019 budget. There is no increase to stormwater rates for FY 2020.

Revenues associated with the City’s treatment of New Castle County sewage total $19.6 million in FY 2020, down $56,665 from the FY 2019 budget. This decrease is inclusive of an offsetting contingency to account for potential arbitration between the City and the County, as the County has been acting out of contract since 2015.