Ezra J. Temko

City council will be voting on May 10 regarding expending stimulus funds on energy efficiency upgrades to the municipal building.  For more information on the proposal, visit the following link:

http://cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1592

Hello friends,

Thank you very much for all the support you have given me.  As of last week’s filing deadline, no one else filed for the 5th district council seat.  I will be sworn in for a second term on April 20 for a second two-year term.  I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve my district and community.

I am committed to community and to making sure Newark reflects strong community vitality, environmental sustainability, and good governance.  As financial difficulties continue to confront our government and community, we need to look forward for new paths that will keep intact and enhance our community; we cannot continue doing things the same way we always have.  I will continue to advocate and be a voice and vote for decision-making that reflects our community’s values and a governance shift towards inclusion and collaboration.  If you would like to learn more about what I plan to work on during the next two years, my platform is available at http://www.ezratemko.com/platform/

In other quite positive news, council recently unanimously voted to sign on to the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.  We will have a celebration of this, called “Painting Newark Green: A Cool Cities Celebration,” on Monday, April 19, at 7pm.

Thanks again for your continued support!

All the best,
Ezra

Newark City Council unanimously adopted a resolution in support of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and actively working to ensure we are a “cool city.”  Newark is now a signatory to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, found below.

U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
(As endorsed by the 73rd Annual U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting, Chicago, 2005)

A. We urge the federal government and state governments to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the target of reducing global warming pollution levels to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, including efforts to: reduce the United States’ dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the development of clean, economical energy resources and fuel-efficient technologies such as conservation, methane recovery for energy generation, waste to energy, wind and solar energy, fuel cells, efficient motor vehicles, and biofuels;

B. We urge the U.S. Congress to pass bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation that 1) includes clear timetables and emissions limits and 2) a flexible, market-based system of tradable allowances among emitting industries; and

C. We will strive to meet or exceed Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing global warming pollution by taking actions in our own operations and communities such as:

1. Inventory global warming emissions in City operations and in the community, set reduction targets and create an action plan.

2. Adopt and enforce land-use policies that reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and create compact, walkable urban communities;

3. Promote transportation options such as bicycle trails, commute trip reduction programs, incentives for car pooling and public transit;

4. Increase the use of clean, alternative energy by, for example, investing in “green tags”, advocating for the development of renewable energy resources, recovering landfill methane for energy production, and supporting the use of waste to energy technology;

5. Make energy efficiency a priority through building code improvements, retrofitting city facilities with energy efficient lighting and urging employees to conserve energy and save money;

6. Purchase only Energy Star equipment and appliances for City use;

7. Practice and promote sustainable building practices using the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program or a similar system;

8. Increase the average fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles; reduce the number of vehicles; launch an employee education program including anti-idling messages; convert diesel vehicles to bio-diesel;

9. Evaluate opportunities to increase pump efficiency in water and wastewater systems; recover wastewater treatment methane for energy production;

10. Increase recycling rates in City operations and in the community;

11. Maintain healthy urban forests; promote tree planting to increase shading and to absorb CO2; and

12. Help educate the public, schools, other jurisdictions, professional associations, business and industry about reducing global warming pollution.

Council will discuss an ordinance to eliminate free parking on Sundays starting at 1 pm.

This would generate $68,000 of revenue for the city and the 1pm start is to still allow free parking for those going to downtown houses of worship on Sunday mornings.

Visit http://cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1481 for more information and be sure to let me know your thoughts.

On February 8, council unanimously voted for the 136 Elkton Road project.
This is a District 5 project where the Eagle Diner, Papa Johns, Happy Garden, Christina School District’s Networks program, and The English Language Institute Annex currently reside.  The project is part of the continued redevelopment efforts in our downtown.  The project will take approximately 8 months to build and will likely start somewhere between Spring 2011 and 2012.  The owners’ intention is to retain the current commercial/restaurant tenants if possible.

This is a summary/synopsis of the proposed 2010 budget.  It includes:
1) The goals/necessary steps our 2010 budget must accomplish
2) What makes that difficult
3) How the city has cut spending
4) How the 2010 budget raises revenue

There will be a public hearing on Monday, 11/23/09, at 7:30pm in city hall.
To read the entire proposed budget, go to http://cityofnewarkde.us/index.aspx?NID=616 

1) The budget must:
1.  Cover the city’s expenses for 2010.  The city has a $31.2 million operating budget and $4.1 milion in city expenses for our capital improvements program.  The proposed revenue budget is $2.1 million larger than last year’s budget to ensure the city’s expenses are covered.
2.  Move Newark in a positive direction towards increasing our cash reserve.  Ideally we would have $25-30 million in our cash reserve.  In 2005 the city had $21 million; as of October 2009 we had $12.6 million

2) It is difficult to meet these budget needs because:
1.  Realty transfer taxes are down considerably, over $1 million/year.  Transfer taxes are projected to be $0.8 million in 2009 compared to a budget of $1.9 million.  Actual transfer taxes in 2008 were $2.8 million including about $0.9 million from the transfer of the Chrysler site.
2. The reservoir lawsuit settlement directly cost $3.6 million and insurance costs increased about $200,000 in the first renewal after the reservoir settlement.
3.  The Chrysler site is being sold to the University of Delaware, meaning the city will no longer get that $280,000 of annual property tax revenue.
4.  In 2005, there was substantial electric utility revenue loss.  Electric margins were $9.1 million less than budgeted in 2005 and $3.5 million less than budgeted in 2006.
5.  Retiree health care costs increase $300,000 in 2010.
6.  Pension expense increases $300,000 due in part to poor investment performance in 2008.
7.  Health care costs are up about $100,000.
8.  The city conducted a resident survey to determine value of services.  The vast majority of services in the survey were rated as very important by 50% or more of respondents, limiting options for service reductions.
3) The city has worked to maintain and reduce costs by:
1.  Cutting 8 FTE (full-time equivalent) positions (savings:  $650,000)
2.  Making changes to health plan benefits (savings:  $260,000- costs are rising $100,000 instead of $360,000)
3.  Material and supplies cost containment (savings:  $74,00)
4.  Eliminating the print version of the city newsletter (savings: $21,000)
5.  Eliminating the trolley subsidy (savings: $7,000)
6.  Eliminating expenditures from the capital improvements program (2009 savings: $700,00)
7.  Postponing expenditures from the 2009 capital improvements program to 2010 (2009 savings of $1.3 million)

4) The $2 million+ shortfall is made up for in the 2010 budget through:
1.  A sewer rate increase (Revenue: $1,000,000)
Impact on homeowner:  $50/year average
Due to infrastructure costs and lower demand, without a sewer rate increase the city would lose money on its sewer utility in 2010.  The city has a target operating margin for its sewer utility of 20%.  With this sewer increase, the operating margin would be 16%.

2.  A 9 cent property tax increase (Revenue:  $700,000)
Impact on typical homeowner:  $89/year for single-family detached, $50/year for single-family townhomes
Property tax is the most stable source of funding the city has and is the city’s primary tool to raise revenue for its general fund.  Even with this increase, the city would still be collecting 20% less in taxes (property and realty transfer tax) in 2010 than previously.
Is Newark still a good deal with a 9 cent property tax increase?
With the tax rate increase, Newark’s tax rate would be 64.58 cents per $100 of assessed value.  This is below that of Wilmington, New Castle, Elsmere, and Newport.  The tax rate for the county is 70.18 cents per $100 of assessed value, and the city provides many services to its citizens that residents in the county must privately contract and pay for (i.e. refuse collection, snow removal, leaf collection).
3.  Developing a stormwater utility fee (Revenue: $350,000)
Impact on homeowner: $17-31/year, depending on zoning/minimum lot size
A stormwater utility fee will reduce reliance on the property tax for funding stormwater related expenditures and gather these funds in a more equitable fashion.

4.  Charging apartment complexes for dumpster collection (Revenue: $350,000)
Some apartment complexes may pass these fees on, but not all apartment complexes use the city for dupmster collection at present; some use and pay private contractors.

Many Newarkers are concerned about litter in our community.  Whether concerned for reasons of pride and beautification, ecological concerns, or sense of place, it is definitely an issue that is worth addressing.

One of the principle rules of litter prevention is not having litter in the first place.  People are more likely to have a message that it is “okay” to litter if they already see litter on the ground.  This is similar to when people are more likely to keep their home and yard in better/worse condition when they see the current state of the rest of their neighborhood.

One way that Newark gets litter off the ground, which serves both to clean up our community and deter future litter, is through our annual Spring Community Clean Up.  This clean up is one Saturday morning each Spring from 9am to 11pm.  There are usually about 100 volunteers, from concerned residents and UD students to families and neighborhood groups to high school students and community organization members.  This past Spring volunteers collected 1,210 pounds of trash/debris!

After being contacted by a constituent about littering in our community, I conversed with the city manager and Parks & Recreation Department director and suggested that we should have an additional community cleanup each year.  Last time I was out with the Graduate Student Senate the volunteers there even expressed interest in doing this more than once a year.  After looking into this proposal, the city decided to offer a Fall community cleanup this November.

It will be on Saturday, November 14, from 9am to 11pm.  Interested community members should meet outside city hall.

In my last two e-newsletters, I’ve detailed roberries at the local Rite Aid on New London Road.  I wanted to let you know that our Newark police, who have an above average record in closing crimes, have made arrests for these robberies.  A Newark detective along with a member of the state police arrested the two Rite Aid robbers.

The agenda for the August 10 council meeting includes:

2) The second reading and public hearing on a proposal to increase retail water rates by 35% effective October 1.  Click here to read more about this proposal.

At the July 27 meeting:

+Council adopted a resolution honoring Steve Dentel for his years of service as chair of the Conservation Advisory Commission. To read the resolution, click on the following link:  http://cityofnewarkde.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1263