Economic and Community Development Fund Budget Amendment

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; figures may be misheard.

What: a possible budget amendment returning $1.426 million to the economic and community development fund. The FY27 budget had moved that amount to the general fund to pay for entrance improvements at the Garrison Oak Technical Park; a state transportation funding award now covers the project.
Where it stands: briefed by City Manager Sharon Duca on 2026-10-13; no vote, on hold until the project is bid.
Next: staff aims to bid within 45 days (depends on a DelDOT meeting); any amendment would follow final costs.

Fund balance was a little over $3 million before the transfer, leaving about $1.67 million.
Revised project cost is a little over $2 million; the funding decision came August 26 and the approval letter September 26. It is not yet known whether the award covers the full cost.
Staff recommends limiting the return until bids are in, with a buffer for change orders. Design cost ($90,000) came from the fund; a further $45,000 engineer change order would need council approval.
Councilman Anderson wants the fund back near $2 million and floated a rebate or bill credit for customers who saw rate increases.

About 6 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-13 - Council Committee of the Whole	6

2026-10-13 - 2026-10-13 - Council Committee of the Whole: Duca briefing; discussion only, no vote.
2026-09-29 - 2026-09-29 - Council Committee of the Whole: Fund closed to new applications; staff said a budget amendment would be needed to fund the Booted and Suited and Get Work Foundation requests.