Dover — city of dover The City is exploring options for new funds to be put into the Economic and Community Development Fund resulting from the recent sale of City-owned properties.
Currently, the funds from these sales, including some obtained through the post-tax delinquent munitions procurement process, go into the city’s general fund, and their use requires a City Council vote, and the city’s regular It is not part of the operating budget, City Manager David Hagg said at a news conference. He added that establishing an economic and community development fund could help allocate that money for specific purposes, subject to guidance and regulations set by the city council.
“When selling real estate, whether it’s residential real estate or commercial real estate in Garrison Oak, you need to remember that these are one-time, unexpected expenses. “There is no guarantee that the next sale will result in additional revenue,” he added. “These (will be) special revenue funds that will be included in the budget, but will not be part of the items provided in the general fund. They will be part of our fund balance. ”
Ultimately, Hagg said, whether the proceeds go straight to the general fund or to a suggested special fund, “the only body that can decide how and where the money is spent is Congress. Yes,” he forced.
City Council President David Anderson told fellow council members that he hopes the creation of a special fund to which the newly acquired funds will be directed will have a positive impact across the city.
“Here’s the idea: If we keep saying we don’t have enough money to train neighborhood watchers and clean the streets, then maybe we have. Probably pilot it at least once before adding items to your budget etc. You might be able to run the project and see if something works, but let’s see what happens. Let’s see if it works. “Rather than working on something we don’t know about, we’d rather see if it works in a pilot program and see if the money is well spent, and that’s the idea behind it,” he said during the meeting.
in minutes At the Oct. 29 Dover City Council of the Whole meeting, Hagg explained that proceeds from sales like the Garrison Oak Business Park will do just that, bringing significant upgrades to Dover. During that meeting, he also explained that the Economic Development Fund was previously established in March 2023 without any commission action, and that he said it was not needed at the time.
With the bulk of the funding remaining, approximately $700,000, the gas lines were installed in the following manner. Chesapeake Utilities That fund raised $260,000.
“He explained that in his discussions with the mayor and the City Council president, he thought it was a good idea a few years ago and thought it should be formally created, not just set aside.” It is recorded in the minutes.
City Council members in attendance unanimously agreed to recommend adoption of a resolution formally establishing the Economic and Community Development Fund, as recommended by staff.
A similar result was reached at the November 25th board meeting, with a 6-1 vote in favor of adopting the resolution. A resolution to establish a fund must go through a public hearing process.
“Money that comes out of the community should benefit, and it may benefit the city as a whole, but some of it, at least some of it, should benefit the community where it came from.” Anderson said. “If real estate sells downtown, there’s a real need in my community downtown, and some of the money should stay there. . . . We don’t have to come up with new programs, we don’t have to raise taxes. We just want to make sure that people can see the benefits of what’s happening now without having to rely on some grant agency all the time and wait a year to get something done. That’s a certain way of thinking.”
