Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
BUDGET CRUNCH
Delco council orders spending cuts of up to 10 percent
Members of Delaware County Council are asking county departments to cut 7 to 10 percent across the board.
Council Chairman Brian Zidek pointed out the $23 million deficit left from the $358 million budget passed last year, approved by a vote of 3-2, with Zidek and fellow Democratic Councilman Kevin Madden voting against it. The funding package was approved by three outgoing Republican council members, John McBlain, Colleen Morrone and Michael Culp.
“The budget last year was passed by raiding the county’s savings,” Zidek said. “That’s how they filled the hole for the $23 million deficit.”
He noted that at the time, he and Madden suggested cutting spending by 5 percent, a move that was rejected by the GOP majority.
The directive was announced Wednesday
as part of the Administrative Code’s requirement for a statement of budgetary policy 180 days before the beginning of the fiscal year.
It came at council’s first live meeting since the coronavirus lockdown began. Previous meetings have been broadcast on Zoom.
“In this statement, we asked the county departments and the courts to reduce their budgets by 7 to 10 percent,” Zidek announced. “We can’t - and will not - pass another budget with a $23 million deficit. We’re asking all of our departments ... to cut 7 to 10 percent of last year’s budget. We realize that this is a big ask but we can’t operate like we did last year and we can’t operate like the federal government where they just pile on debt.”
Earlier this month, Zidek sent a letter to county Budget Director Jim Hackett outlining this request and the need for it.
In addition to the deficit, the chairman wrote in this letter, “Making a difficult situation worse, COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the finances of Delaware County. Revenue has significantly declined as gaming revenue, hotel taxes and even property tax and transfer tax receipts lag previous years. Further, Delaware County has incurred very significant expenses related to the pandemic. Both issues are likely to persist.”
In fact, also on Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf issued new guidance related to COVID-19, prohibiting bar operations, reducing inside restaurant capacity to 25 percent and limiting inside gatherings to 25 or fewer people.
“This is preventative,” Madden said of the governor’s action. “We don’t want to be back where we were a few months ago. We don’t want to be in a place where schools can’t safely open in the fall. This obviously has a significant impact on the community and most importantly on business owners that are impacted by this.”
Regarding the county’s program to assist businesses, Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer said 551 for-profit businesses applied for Delco Strong 2 grants, contrasted with the 1,100 that applied for the first round of this funding in May.
“We were perplexed at why it was so low,” she said. “We’re trying to parse through the applications and figure out what that’s about.”
Non-profits have until July 21 to apply for Delco Strong 2 funding, via delcofoundation.org/delcostrong-2-nonprofits.
County Vice Chairman Dr. Monica Taylor spoke of the upcoming COVID-19 testings, including today at 1020 Ridge Ave. in Darby from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will also be testing in Yeadon from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21, and Thursday, July 23 and from noon to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at 600 S. Wycombe Ave.
The test is free to county residents who must be 18-years-old or older. They are asked to pre-register by calling 610-891-6129, although walk-ups will be accepted. Test results will take up to five to seven days.
Back to the budget, one suggestion Zidek made was to eliminate standing vacant positions that hadn’t been filled for some time.
“Past budgets have provided for the funding of numerous positions that were vacant at the time the budget was passed,” he wrote in the letter to Hackett. “In many instances, the positions remained vacant for years. County council believes that a better practice would be to only budget for positions that are currently filled or that directors believe will be filled in relatively short order. As such, council expects that positions that have been vacant for a considerable time will be eliminated from the 2021 budget. In many departments, the elimination of these vacant positions will result in the desired 7 percent to 10 percent reduction in expenses.”
He ended his letter, which will be shared with county department heads, referencing the situation while looking ahead.
“These are unprecedented times and we appreciate the difficulties and sacrifices that our county workforce has had to make and will continue to make as we get through this challenging period,” he wrote. “We look forward to working together as we rebuild this government and achieve better efficiency, fair compensation for all and create a workplace that you are proud to be a part of.”