Delaware is supposed to have a projected 200 million dollar revenue surplus this year and the first thing Democrats want to do is keep spending, spending, spending. It’s as if we taxpayers are an endless money supply. In a recent article it was said, “It’s more difficult to run the Legislature when you have a surplus than when you have a deficit,” said House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear. “Everybody will be down in Legislative Hall putting their hands out.” However, its not the general public with their hands out, it is the current administration.
This administration wants to allocate $50 million, with a projection up to $500 million dollars, for the Clean Water Act Trust Fund. The federal government (also our tax dollars) has given the state of Delaware an average of $10 million dollars a year since 1997 or a total of $224 million dollars over a 22-year period.
What specifically have we done with that money? This new $50 million allotment of money is meant to be permanently funded. If you look back over time, our revenue sources are not exactly stable, so where will this money come from if we have a deficit year? How much will our taxes rise? This administration wants to take our tax dollars first then tell us how it will be spent. Is this the beginning of Delaware’s New Green Deal?
Don’t get me wrong. Everyone would like clean drinking water but 22 years and $224 million later, most of us have to buy bottled water or we have installed filtering systems because what comes into our houses we don’t even want to give to our pets.
Shouldn’t our focus have been on bringing clean water into our homes first? I understand that there are other projects such as wastewater, sewage and drainage projects that are to be included but there are currently other ways to access funds without increasing taxes and growing government.
Our current administration also wants to spend another $50 million under a partnership agreement to build a new school in Wilmington and to make renovations in other schools. No referendum and no local input. What is wrong with this picture? Is this to be a new precedent?
Delaware ranks sixth in the nation in spending per capita, more than Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts and other surrounding states. We have mandated pensions that are not funded and this amount keeps growing into the billions.
Where are the fiscal responsibility and the good stewardship of our taxpayer dollars? My suggestion for this $200 million projected revenue surplus is to find a way to reduce taxes. We need to get back to limited government and low taxes.
Cheryl Precourt
Dover
Cheryl Precourt is a candidate for the 32nd Representative District in Dover.