LEWES, DE -- The Lewes Fire Department is requesting funding from the City to help cover its annual budget amid increasing expenses and needed resources.
On Feb. 16, Gordon Davis, a member of the fire department, presented city officials with the $4.4 million budget for 2024 and other details on what the money is used for, as well as where the department is facing increases and decreases. Davis ultimately expressed the department's overwhelming need for support.
"We're borrowing more money each year," said Davis. "We know what it takes for us to operate. Our responses aren't going down. Our population isn't going down. We're at the point where we need to start determining how we're going to fund this operation."
Davis said the department, which is independent of the City if Lewes, can no longer depend on donations and grants alone. He said the department estimates only 25% of the population it serves donates.
As a solution, the department is requesting the City contribute 16% of its total budget, which aligns with the 16% of calls that come from within city limits. The amount would total around $600,000.
In addition, the department is proposing an impact fee for taxpayers to fund existing and future expenses.
For storeowner Michiko Seto, the fee is a no brainer.
"I'm a numbers person, so you take that cost, whatever it may be, even if it were $10 dollars a month," says Seto. "To me $10 dollars a month is worth it. I think we all pay that for a cup of coffee nowadays and we all want the safety of our house. We want them to have the tools necessary to get to us if we need them."
But not everyone is a quick to offer support for the proposal.
"To many, it seems to be minimal at $60 or $85, whatever that number is," says Lewes resident Larry Franz. "Again, is that number in perpetuity, and is that number in conjunction with the $600,000 they're asking for or is that separate? I'd have to know more before I make that decision."
Lewes city officials have not made a decision about the fire department's requests.