Why Should Delaware Care?
In his second year in office, Wilmington Mayor John Carney says he will double down on encouraging affordable housing in Delaware’s largest city. But several council members have already expressed concerns around how new money would be spent to make housing more affordable.
Wilmington Mayor John Carney introduced his $212 million city budget Thursday and within it was a proposal to create a $20 million program to incentivize the construction of new housing.
The investment, he said, would be the “largest ever made with city dollars.”
If approved, almost $17 million from the fund would be available for developers who build new affordable housing, while $2 million would fund the conversion of vacant lots into accessory dwelling units and other productive uses, Carney said. The remaining dollars would pay for various design and engineering services and for the city’s home repair lottery system.
Carney delivered the budget address at Old Town Hall on Market Street, speaking before the full City Council as well as other officials. While he spoke, protesters gathered outside the building, blaring sirens and banging on pots and pans, while urging the mayor to stabilize rent prices.
In the speech, he noted that the city has added 4,000 new housing units since 2016 – 800 of which were affordable.
“It’s time to build on that progress,” he said.
The housing fund proposal comes after more than a year of debates in the city over how to provide relief to residents facing rising costs. Carney’s solution highlights an ideological divergence between his administration and a progressive bloc of council members who have been trying to enact measures that would cap how much landlords could raise rents each year, with certain exceptions.
In a statement made after Carney’s speech, those council members called for the proposed housing fund to include other programs, including rental assistance, funding for emergency homeless shelters, and the creation of a housing trust to expand affordable rentals and support homeownership.
“The people have been clear on what they need. Now it’s time for the City Council to deliver on a budget that meets those needs,” Councilmembers Coby Owens, Shané Darby and Christian Willauer said in a joint statement.
Housing Fund details to come
Officials from the Carney administration said they will work out the specific details about the affordable housing fund in the coming weeks.
As a result, several questions are still unanswered, including whether developer incentives would be tax credits or direct grants, and whether the city would require housing developments created through the fund to make all units affordable, or just a portion them.
Carney’s spokeswoman, Caroline Klinger, did note that these sorts of programs typically provide developers with money “at the beginning of a project, as a way to attract other investment.”
Although Carney has made his budget ask, it won’t take effect unless the full Council discusses and approves its provisions.
The City Council’s budget hearings will begin on April 1, and the body is set to vote on the budget on May 21.
GET INVOLVED
If you would like to make your voice heard on the budget negotiations, you can find your council member and their contact information here.
Contact information for the mayor’s office is found here.
Sewer and water hike proposed
Beyond speaking about housing, Carney emphasized in his speech that his budget does not include a property tax increase.
Still, water and sewer rates would increase under the proposal budget by 9.95%. And at least one council member has already expressed opposition to it.
In her statement with Owens and Willauer, Darby said residents have told the council that their “utilities are out of control” — a likely reference to recent spikes in electricity bills, which the city does not control.
“But we do have power over water bills. This isn’t the right time to be increasing water rates,” she said in the statement.
Carney’s proposed water and sewer fund budget is $100.2 million — a $5 million increase over the current year’s budget.
His proposed general fund budget is $212.6 million — a roughly $10 million increase over the current year. This year’s budget exceeds city revenue collected by about $1.6 million, which has required officials to pull from Wilmington’s Tax Stabilization Reserve fund.
Emphasis on public safety
Carney has also placed an emphasis on crime prevention.
In his proposed budget, he included funding for a director position to oversee the city’s new Office of Community Safety, which he created through executive order earlier this month.
City officials have said they want to build on progress made last year — a period that experienced the lowest number of shooting incidents in 20 years.
Carney said the new office will work with law enforcement, the fire department and other organizations to target what he called “hotspots,” or areas that report high drug use and “nuisance activity.”
“Many of these people clearly need our help, but so do the residents who live on blocks where prostitution, panhandling, and drug use exist,” he said.
Carney’s comments come months after he directed city officials to make Christina Park Wilmington’s only city-sanctioned homeless encampment. In his budget address, he said the city will soon provide mobile showers and new tents for the residents there.
Portable restrooms were installed at the park in January.
Carney also noted that demolition has begun for a new day center for the unhoused — a project being developed in collaboration with the Wilmington Housing Authority and the Ministry of Caring.
The rest of the budget
Other items within Carney’s budget include new money for businesses and for emergency services.
As part of new economic development efforts, Carney outlined plans to create an Economic Development Roundtable and to add $4 million to the city’s Strategic Fund to attract jobs and investment.
The budget also sets aside $1 million for disadvantaged businesses.
His budget would also add 12 new firefighter EMT positions, at a cost to the city of $1.2 million.
Last year, the Wilmington Fire Department took over ambulance service in Wilmington after the city ended its contract with St. Francis Hospital. During his speech, Carney noted that city medics have responded to over 14,000 emergency calls since taking over, with an average response time of just over five minutes.
