UPDATED: Sussex County Council Approves Ordinance Amendments for Two County Tax Exemptions & a New Bookmobile
UPDATED – 03/25/25 – The Sussex County Council met Tuesday in Georgetown. County Administrator Todd Lawson reminds County residents that if you plan to file an application to appeal the County property tax assessment – the deadline to do that is Monday, March 31st.
Lawson also announced that the first Land Use Reform Working Group meeting will be this coming Thursday. The meeting is at 10am at the Public Safety Complex on Rudder Lane. This working group will meet several times until July. Click here for the Agenda for his week’s meeting.
Director of Public Safety, Robbie Murray, came to the Council to report on the results of a request for proposal for EMS Cardiac Monitors. Murray tells the Council that the Cardiac Monitors they are currently using have reached their end of life. Their plan is to purchase 47 cardiac monitors – 23 planned for the current fiscal year and the remaining in FY26. The RFP process closed Monday and the 2 bids received were evaluated. Looking at monitor specs, committee feedback, an ergonomics assessment, price and warranty – Stryker received the highest score. The Council has approved a motion for Murray to negotiate and execute a contract with Stryker for 47 cardiac monitors.
Image courtesy Sussex County Government
Sussex County Council also heard from County Librarian Rachel Lynch on the results of an RFP and the possible awarding of a contract for a replacement bookmobile. Lynch says the current vehicle is a 33-foot Thompson-build bus with a diesel engine, which requires a CDL to drive – limiting its availability. It was built in 1998 and is showing its age and has several ongoing maintenance issues – and replacement parts are nearly impossible to find. The Council approved in the FY25 budget funds for a new bookmobile and the RFP process was started in February. Seven bids were received – five were disqualified because of the the completion date. the remaining two bids have been reviewed and rated on a scale for best value. The option recommended by all members of the reviewing team – a 28-foot Step-van on a Ford chassis with a gas engine and does not require a CDL to drive. It will have a wheelchair lift, double doors, an LED-lit retractable awning for community events and adjustable shelving to customize the interior as needed. It also comes in under budget with a guaranteed 90-day delivery date. The Council approved a motion to award the contract for the purchase of the new bookmobile to Tesco Inc. for $309,115 – to be completed and in possession of Sussex County by June 30, 2025.
In Old Business, the Council revisited a Conditional Use No. 2458 filed on behalf of Oneals Solar, LLC. The public hearing was held on March 4th and Council deferred its vote to consider all the information from the public hearing. Council made one amendment to Condition C – which requires a tree buffer on the north and east property lines. Councilman Matt Lloyd wants to expand the tree buffer to include the south and west lines as well. That amendment was approved by the Council – and the amended conditional use application was approved with a unanimous vote.
There were 9 public hearings during the afternoon session. Two were ordinance amendments to the County Code’s taxation section. These deal with County tax exemptions for low-income senior citizens and disabled persons. County Finance Director Gina Jennings told the Council that with the recent property tax assessment – the current numbers for the programs would make little to no impact. She has recommended that the new assessed values increase from $12,500 to $229,000. The just over 800 property owners in the program would pay about $10,500 in county taxes. Other changes increase the residency requirement from 3 to 5 years. Income limits for the Low-income 65 Program would go from $4500 to $6000 for singles and $6500 to $7500 for married. (Income does not include social security benefits, railroad retirement benefits and pension income from the applicant’s disability). The changes are the same for those in the disability program. Jennings stresses that these changes are only for the County tax exemptions and will have no impact on the State 65 Program or the State Disability Veterans Tax Credit. Jennings also says that the reassessment has impacted each property differently – and the change will not mean each property will receive the same exemption amount as it did the year before. These ordinances are to make sure that the value of the program, as a whole, is consistent with last year’s program. Both ordinances were approved by the Council.
Click here for more information on the County exemptions
Two sewer annexations were approved by the County Council – the Camp Salty Farm Annexation in the Miller Creek Area and the Bridgeville Warehouse Annexation in the Western Sussex Area.
There were five land use applications heard by the Council. A Conditional Use No 2466, two Change of Zone applications were heard together for adjoining properties – No 2014 and No. 2023 – all three were each approved by the Council. The final two applications – Change of Zone No 2012 and Conditional Use No. 2449 – both filed on behalf of Rudder Road, LLC were also heard together. The Change of Zone from an AR-1 district to a MR Medium Density Residential District for over 30.5 acres off Banks Road near Millsboro. The Conditional Use would be for 116 multi-family units to be located on that property. Three people spoke in opposition of the applications and the Council has deferred a vote on both applications to further review the information from the over 90 minute public hearing.
The County Council meeting scheduled on April 1st has been canceled. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, April 8 in Georgetown.
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The Sussex County Council will meet Tuesday morning at 10am in the Council Chambers in Georgetown. The council will hear from Director of Public Safety, Robbie Murray on a RFP for a heart monitor and from County Librarian, Rachel Lynch on a RFP pertaining to the Bookmobile. In Old Business the Council will revisit an conditional use application for a solar array in the area of Oneals Road in Seaford.
The afternoon session, which begins at 1:30pm, includes 9 public hearings. Two are ordinance amendments on a seniors exemption and exemption for disabled persons to update the assessed property value. There are also two sewer annexations. The council will also hear two conditional use and three change of zone applications.
The Sussex County Council meets in the County Administration Building on The Circle in Georgetown.
CLICK HERE FOR THE COUNCIL AGENDA
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL PACKET