Wilmington mayor, City Council kick off budget hearing meetings: What to watch for

19 hours ago 1

The Wilmington City Council has kicked off its fiscal year 2026 budget hearings, and two major changes are on everyone's mind.

In March, Mayor John Carney presented his first budget in his new role. The budget includes more than $201 million in the city's general fund and around $95 million in water, sewage and stormwater. The budget could operate at a surplus of about $2 million.

The $4 million integration of EMS services into Wilmington's Fire Department is one of the Carney administration's biggest priorities after St. Francis Hospital let the city know it wasn't going to be providing EMS for the city after June 28. Another major wrench in the city's budget is New Castle County's property reassessment.

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In Carney's budget proposal address, he mentioned a one-year, one-time program to give some relief to people whose taxes might jump as a result of reassessment. At Wednesday night's meeting, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephanie Mergler said the mayor's office has a draft plan to offer that assistance, but that it is not ready to be presented yet.

"While Wilmington's best days are ahead of us, our government faces real challenges," said Carney's Chief of Staff Cerron Cade at the meeting. "The cost of providing these vital services continues to rise, but our revenues are not keeping pace. Despite this, we remain committed to making strategic investments that continue to move our city forward."

What happened and what to expect

These meetings are not meant to be negotiations, but rather to be a preview of how different departments will look in the next fiscal year. Once all of the hearings are finished, then negotiations will begin. Budgets are usually approved in May.

City Council members attended the meeting over Zoom and in person, and there was no public comment on either budget on Wednesday night.

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The mayor's office was the first to present its specific budget, which adds up to about $7 million for various positions and services for emergency planning, administration and communication.

The mayor's office is also helping to fund 311 services and graffiti removal, both of which are proposed to get financial boosts. It will also continue to help fund arts programs for the city, including the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival and public art for capital projects.

The City Council presented its budget after the mayor with a total of over $4.2 million, which is mostly personnel costs and the funding of communication like WITN. WITN, the city's public access cable channel, is suffering from global cable-cutting and has lost more than half of its audience in less than a decade. It is operating at a loss at the moment, according to the presentation.

The budgets and their presenters were lightly grilled by members of the City Council, but no decisions were made. The rest of the hearings will take place on Monday and Wednesday nights in April.