UPCOMING
BUDGET
MEETINGS:
Wednesday, March 8
6 p.m.
City Council Workshop
Budget review:
School Department budget.
Will be followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 15
7 p.m.
City Council Special Meeting
School budget public hearing
Wednesday, March 15
follows special meeting
City Council Workshop
Budget review:
Police, Fire and Rescue, and Planning departments
Wednesday, March 22
7 p.m.
City Council Meeting
City budget public hearing
Wednesday, March 29
7 p.m.
City Council Workshop
Budget review:
Community Services
Wednesday, April 5
6 p.m.
City Council Workshop
General budget review
Wednesday, April 5
Following Workshop
City Council Special Meeting
Budget adoption
Wednesday, April 12
7 p.m.
City Council Meeting
Fallback budget adoption date
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MORE
INFORMATION, RESOURCES
AVAILABLE AT:
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Budget presentations begin |
The City Council held its first budget workshop on Wednesday, March 1, where it reviewed several departmental budgets, including Executive, Finance, Recreation, Welfare, Library and Information Technology. These proposed budgets, budget presentations and accompanying slides can be viewed on the FY2024 Budget Revealed webpage.
The next workshop is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, with the School Department's budget presentation.
Executive
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City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr.
The Executive Department proposed budget totals $2,391,434, an increase of $221,487 or 10.2% over the current FY2023 budget.
The Executive Department budget includes the following divisions: the City Manager's office, Human Resources office, Media Services office, City Attorney's office and Business Development office.
Fiscal Year 2024 objectives of the Executive Department include:
- Continuing to address the ongoing public health and economic impacts of the COVID pandemic;
- Promote continued collaboration and efficiency in the delivery of municipal services;
- Prudently managing municipal operations and finances;
- Pursue available state and federal funds for infrastructure investments supporting responsible growth and long-term well-being of the community;
- Negotiating successor collective bargaining agreements with the city's seven unions;
- Revising the onboarding process to ensure a solid foundation for new employees to start their careers with the city;
- Continue improvements to the city's broadcast infrastructure for all governmental and educational programming;
- Complete redesign of the city's website;
- Improve and integrate search tools on the city's website and other information portals;
- Provide timely and efficient legal services on a diverse array of legal issues;
- Partnering with private property owners and developers to leverage public infrastructure improvements to create economic opportunities;
- Coordinating and overseeing downtown infill projects; and
- Supporting and recommending initiatives for business development within the city.
The Executive Department budget begins on page 219 of the Proposed Budget Book, which can be viewed here.
Finance
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Finance Director Daniel Lynch |
The Finance Department proposed budget totals $2,572,489, an increase of $112,518, or 4.6%, above the current year's budget.
The Finance Department budget includes the following divisions: Finance and Accounting, Tax Assessment, City Clerk and Tax Collection Office and the Election Division.
Fiscal Year 2024 objectives of the Finance Department include:
- Continue to expand the use of electronic processing, imaging and record retention;
- Improve the utilization of online and mail-in payment services;
- Investigate the expansion of online payment for other types of transactions;
- Continue preserving public records through the Treeno system for easier public accessibility;
- Continue annual assessment changes to maintain consistency with market value;
- Implement electronic public procurement and new CAMA software; and
- Efficiently conduct two elections.
The Finance Department budget begins on page 259 of the Proposed Budget Book, which can be viewed here. |
Recreation Director Gary Bannon
The Recreation Department's proposed budget totals $4,312,134 an increase of $102,076, or 2.4%, across all funds.
The Recreation budget consists of several divisions and programs, including administration, Indoor and Outdoor pools, Ice Arena, Center Center, McConnell Fitness Center and recreation programs. The Recreation budget also provides some funding for the Cochecho Arts Festival and Fourth of July festivities.
The proposed budget includes the following expenditures:
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General Fund: $3,018,170, a $99,004 increase or 3.4%;
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McConnell Center Fund: $860,214, a $31,242 increase or 3.8%;
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Recreation Program Fund: $433,750, a $28,170 decrease or 6.1%.
The department's budget is funded through the General Fund, the McConnell Center Fund, made up of rental fees of the building, and the Recreation Programs Fund, generated by user fees from recreation programs such as swim lessons, summer program Camp Kool, fitness center and senior center programs.
Among the key objectives for Fiscal Year 2024 include:
- Continue renovations of athletic fields and facilities;
- Work on plans to develop active recreation facilities on the Waterfront parcel;
- Work with the McConnell Center tenants to develop new programs; and
- Work closely with the School Department to schedule spaces in the new High School and athletic fields and facilities for community use; and
- Completing construction of the new skate park.
The Recreation Department budget begins on page 595 of the Proposed Budget Book, which can be viewed here.
Welfare
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Welfare Director David Balian
The Welfare Department's proposed budget totals $899,587, an increase of $973 or 0.1% above the current year's budget.
The Welfare Department provides general assistance to meet the genuine needs of all eligible residents in compliance with state law and city guidelines that foster dignity and self-sufficiency.
Key objectives for Fiscal Year 2024 include:
- Follow the impact of budget reductions on the state and federal levels;
- Work with stakeholders to establish a better means of finding shelter for Dover's unhoused;
- Actively participate in efforts to address affordable housing and homelessness;
- Investigate and/or create new resources to supplement current services, especially for the unhoused; and
- Monitor any new state or federal legislation that may impact the department.
The Welfare Department budget begins on page 697 of the Proposed Budget Book, which can be viewed here.
Library
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Library Director Denise LaFrance
The Library Department's proposed budget totals $1,841,749, an increase of $86,359, or 4.9%, across all funds.
The proposed budget includes expenditures from the following funds:
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General Fund: $1,813,499, an increase of $86,114, or 5%;
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Library Fine Fund: $28,250, a $245 increase or 0.9%. This is a special revenue fund.
While the Dover Public Library stopped charging overdue fines in FY2023, there is still a Library Fine Fund, which is required by law. It includes revenues from public printing and faxing fees, replacement fees for books and lost library cards, and U.S. Passport execution fees.
The Fiscal Year 2024 objectives of the Dover Public Library include:
- Emphasizing the Library’s range of creative tools, databases, classes, and activities for makers of all ages;
- Promoting collaboration with relevant community organizations to better serve all demographics;
- Work with the contracted architect to formulate plans for library renovations;
- Continue work towards providing equity of access to the library's collections for all community members; and
- Continue expanding programs and resources to promote healthy and active lifestyles.
The Library Department budget begins on page 677 of the Proposed Budget Book , which can be viewed here.
Information Technology
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Information Technology Director Annie Dove
The DoverNet/Office of Information Technology portion of the proposed budget totals $1,969,942, an increase of $221,461, or 12.7 percent, over the current year's budget.
The IT department promotes the community's connection to its local government services through accessible and accurate information services. It also supports and assists municipal staff by providing access to responsive, easy-to-use, secure and reliable information technology systems and services.
Information Technology's Fiscal Year 2024 priorities include:
- Continue administration of self-insured maintenance program for client systems, printing and other network devices;
- Providing or coordinating staff training when and where required to improve user efficiency;
- Continued administrator-level training to retain the majority of administration in-house and to support the design of fiscally responsible solutions using current and accepted technologies; and
- Augmenting the delivery of information and services provided to the community using various Internet-based methods where possible.
The DoverNet budget begins on page 723 of the Proposed Budget Book, which can be viewed here. |
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The General Fund accounts for 79.8% of the operational spending of the City of Dover in the proposed FY2024 budget. The General Fund, funded primarily through property taxes, incorporates the spending in such areas as Police, Fire, Community Services and the School Department.
Proprietary Funds are the next largest group, accounting for 11.6% of the City's expenditures. This group is self-supporting and includes the Water and Sewer Utility Funds and the Internal Service Funds. The Internal Service Funds are grouped in this section as they have the same basis of accounting, with City departments as their primary customer.
Special Revenue Funds are funds whose revenues are restricted to specific areas of spending, representing 8.6% of expenditures of the City. Many are federal grants, such as the Community Development Block Grant and the School Federal Education Funds. Other Special Revenue Funds were established by the City Council, such as the Parking Activity Fund, Residential Solid Waste Fund, and OPEB Liability Fund. The budget presents the Downtown Dover Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Fund and the Waterfront TIF Fund as Special Revenue Funds. Both these funds are utilized to account for the costs of financing public improvements in each TIF district.
For more information about budget funds, view "Budget Analysis," included on page 14 of the Fiscal Year 2024 Proposed Budget and page 8 of the "Summary of Proposed Budget" document. Click here to access both documents. |
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What's the difference between
public and private finances?
Government finance is notably different from private-sector finances. Perhaps the most significant difference is transparency.
By design, the municipal budget and government finances are open and transparent, allowing public access to all aspects of the city's finances, including reports that track spending and revenue. This transparency enables the city to communicate its financial health to its stakeholders, including taxpayers and elected officials. The city follows rigorous governmental accounting standards to track and report financial performance. These practices have resulted in numerous awards for excellence in accounting. The City of Dover provides easy access to these reports on its Financial Information webpage.
Another key factor in public financial practices is how priorities are determined. The city's priorities are articulated, debated and decided upon by involved citizens and the community's elected representatives who serve on the School Board and City Council.
The School Board adopts its budget in February, which is included in the overall proposed budget before the City Council in March
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Want to know more? In addition to the online resource for this fiscal year's budget, check out Budget Revealed for more information about the budget process, including previous budgets, insight into the budget cycle, and additional multimedia content.
Click on the image below to view:
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