Water/Sewer Fund FY 2024 Budget

The Water/Sewer Fund has a Fiscal Year 2024 Budget of $84,543,234 in expenditures and $92,139,000 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 2024 Budget Book and here to read the FY 2024 Budget Ordinance.

Click here for a glossary of terms used in this page and the FY 2024 Budget Book.

FY 2024 Budget Highlights

The FY 2024 Water/Sewer Fund operating budget expenditures total $84,543,234 – up $2,398,777 or 2.9% from FY 2023. The FY 2024 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 is a 5.7% increase to water/sewer rates along with a 6.0% increase in stormwater rates. The projected fiscal impact of the rate changes is an increase of $3.61 million in revenue to the Water/Sewer Fund in FY 2024. The typical residential customer in the City using 4,000 gallons of water per month will see an increase of $3.70 to their monthly bill.

The budget contains a $254,421 allowance to cover salary increases as dictated by union labor contracts and for a 2.5% cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) salary increase for non-union employees. In addition, mandatory anniversary salary step increases for eligible employees added $51,559 to the budget.

Staffing increased by a net total of 2.80 FTE. Personnel actions, including changes in grades and shifts to split-funded positions, resulted in a total net increase of $193,510.

The budget for Bulk Chemicals was increased by $1.05 million or 110.5%. Chemicals used for water treatment are byproducts of refining processes involved in producing chemicals for a variety of other major industries. When the pandemic curtailed production in those other industries, availability of the byproducts plummeted as well. As a result of continued production volatility, the City’s chemical vendors stopped honoring contract prices and are now requiring payments that are double what they were two years ago. The Water System Director expects that market volatility will continue into FY 2024.

Click here for more FY 2024 Budget Highlights.

Breakdown of FY 2024 Budgeted Expenditures by Type

Breakdown of FY 2024 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 2024 Budgeted Revenues by Type

Overview of Budgeted Revenues

Total Water / Sewer Fund revenue is budgeted to be $92,139,000, a net increase of $5.8 million, or 6.7%.

There is a 5.7% increase to water/sewer rates along with a 6.0% increase in stormwater rates. The projected fiscal impact of the rate changes is an increase of $3.61 million in revenue to the Water/Sewer Fund in FY 2024. The typical residential customer in the City using 4,000 gallons of water per month will see an increase of $3.70 to their monthly bill.

Water/Sewer User Fees, the Water/Sewer Fund's largest source of revenue, are projected to total $62 million, an increase of $5.5 million from the FY 2023 budget.

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. Stormwater billings are expected to increase by $512,000 or 6.2%.

New Castle County Sewer is the revenue associated with the City’s treatment of sewage from New Castle County. Total revenues are expected to decrease by $107,000 in FY 2024, for a new total of $20.9 million.