DOVER, DE- Stormwater Maintenance District fees in Kent County may increase from $28 to $43 annually to address budget shortfalls caused by sinkholes.
Jared Adkins, Kent Conservation District's program manager, presented the proposed fee hike to the Kent County Levy Court during a workshop on Tuesday. Since the program began in 2014, the fee has remained the same.
Currently, 48 communities across Kent County participate in the Stormwater Maintenance Program. This voluntary program allows the county to handle minor and major stormwater management tasks. Communities can opt in or out of the program as they choose.
However, both the Kent Conservation District and the Levy Court indicated that participation fees for the program could potentially nearly double by 2025.
Both the Kent Conservation District and the Kent County Levy Court are hesitant to raise fees, but Levy Court member George "Jody" Sweeney explained that the fee established 10 years ago didn't anticipate the recent surge in sinkhole-related problems.
“The additional fee for the stormwater program is going to cover new things that they didn’t expect to cover when we initially put this program together."
Adkins added that, in addition to inflation and increased material costs over the years, the primary driver behind the fee increase is the rising number of backyard sinkholes caused by damaged pipes.
“In the last 10 years or so, we’ve had a lot of sinkholes to deal with. Some are only a couple of feet deep, while others go six or seven feet underground. They definitely become a safety issue, so we need to address them quickly."
According to the Kent Conservation District, Kent County experiences an average of two to three sinkholes annually. Many homeowners have backyard drains that could fail at any time, potentially leading to dangerous sinkholes.
Sweeney said he has witnessed the dangers of sinkholes in recent years and emphasized that this is a problem that needs immediate attention.
“I’ve had a sinkhole in Rodney Village that a child could have slipped into and gone down a pipe. Within hours, we had someone there to fix it."
Repairing a sinkhole costs the district more than $3,500, and over the past two years, sinkhole repairs have accounted for 53% of the district’s operational services.
By raising the annual fee to $43, Adkins hopes to fund long-term solutions.
“This program is collecting a minor fee from everyone, and we’re building up a fund so that when we hit that 25- to 30-year mark, we have money for capital improvements and to rebuild these facilities."
While Levy Court has given a consensus to support the fee increase, it cannot be finalized without a public hearing. If passed, the increase is expected to be included in the fiscal year 2025 budget, which will be considered in the spring of 2025.
