County councilman warns of budget shortfall, hiring freeze and Port of Wilmington dredging lapse

New Castle County councilman John Cartier told the Town of Bellefonte commission on March 9 that his office has forwarded the county's crime and code enforcement reports to town staff and that the county is projecting a budget shortfall.

Cartier said the county has imposed a hiring freeze and may reduce staff and that officials are likely to seek higher real estate taxes next year to address rising costs, which he identified as primarily fire and safety expenses. He also reported that port manager Enstructure neglected to arrange dredging at the Port of Wilmington, preventing fully loaded ships from entering and causing cargo to be partially offloaded elsewhere.

The remarks came during the meeting's public-comment portion; commissioners did not take formal action on the county's fiscal projections at the session. No county representative present in the minutes offered additional detail on the projected deficit, the timeframe for tax proposals, or steps being taken to mitigate the port disruption at the time of the meeting.

Commissioners noted receipt of county correspondence on several items, including a formal request to consider the county's Hazard Mitigation Plan and an acknowledgement from the county comptroller regarding assessments. The commission asked staff to circulate relevant county reports to commissioners for follow-up.