By J.L. MILLER and PATRICK JACKSON
The News Journal
05/16/2005
Think of the state budget as the menu at the Delaware Diner.
You'll find meat-and-potatoes entrees like health care, school funding, prisons and public safety. On the side, you can have better sewers, a quicker commute, a fuller library or a few hundred acres of untouched trees. Desserts include nicer sidewalks or flowers along highways.
Of course, the diner also offers thriftier fare -- a little less of this and that, allowing the visit to the cashier to be less taxing.
Delaware's lawmakers this week begin poring over that menu as they confront choices for the budget year that starts July 1.
They come to the table with a wallet bulging with at least $173 million in extra cash -- revenues available for next year that weren't forecast as recently as December. A panel of financial advisers will tell them today whether they have even more cash to work with.
They come to the table with differing tastes, too. Republicans favor the economy fare, eager to use extra cash to trim gross-receipts taxes, which the state's bigger businesses pay on every sale, or for a $500 one-time rebate for everybody. Democrats arrive with stronger appetites for adding math teachers in middle schools, hiking pay for prison guards and road work.
Taxpayers have their own ideas, too. Many find the cash-back offer tempting, but lean toward better services.
Victoria Meyer is thinking about Lukas, her 10-month-old son. Extra money should go to education: specifically, full-day kindergarten.
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has proposed all-day kindergarten in schools statewide by 2008, but some legislators have questioned the cost. Minner's proposed $2.7 billion budget includes $3 million for pilot all-day programs.
"We have all these articles about surpluses the state has, so why don't we spend this on education?" said Meyer, 37, who lives in Edgemoor Terrace in Fox Point with her husband. "Everybody says ... we want to make education better. Well, I want to see that happen."
But wouldn't $500 be nice for a couple with a new baby? "I've already paid you the money. It's already come out of my paycheck, so why send it back?"
Education needs
Jennifer Crowell Stomberg, who recently moved from Oklahoma to Pike Creek with her husband and their children, said she has no interest in a tax rebate, either. She said Oklahoma had just started full-day kindergarten, and she was surprised Delaware still provided half-day programs.
"If it's money that can be used to do start up kindergarten, gosh, if we have this windfall, what do we value?" she said.
Beverly Rickards runs the Immanuel Kings Kids Academy south of Felton with Annette Wideman. They have no qualms about asking for higher state reimbursements for day care for poor children. Delaware has not raised the rate in eight years.
"To be honest, we're struggling," said Rickards, who with Wideman cares for 58 children, most from low-income families.
The two said they know there are other mouths to feed, such as prisons and schools, but feel lawmakers could prevent future problems by taking care of children now. "They may say they care about our kids, but they don't care for our kids," Wideman said.
Marie Lewis, of Wilmington, has done her child-rearing bit but thinks much the same way.
She is retired from the DaimlerChrysler plant in Newark and her three children live on their own. But Lewis said the state should invest in schools and programs like Medicaid so folks aren't forced to fight for drugs they need. "I hear from lots of people who are struggling," she said, "and we have a responsibility to take care of the ones who need help the most."
Dollar saved is a dollar to spend
But all that extra cash floating around in Legislative Hall is worrisome for some, particularly grocer Terry Witt, who runs Witt Bros. Market in Wyoming. "When you've got money in there, somebody always finds some purpose for it," Witt said.
He thinks it wouldn't be such a bad thing if legislators pushed themselves away from the table in time to cut the gross-receipts tax, the tax levied on total receipts from goods sold or services rendered. "Eliminating the gross-receipts tax sounds very good from where I'm standing," Witt said. The tax-- passed on by most businesses as an extra penny on the dollar-- is a financial burden and an accounting headache Witt said he could easily live without.
At the same time, he said, he recognizes the need for spending money where it ought to be spent -- on schools, roads and the like.
Sharon White, who lives on Paddock Road north of Smyrna, is a little torn by the choices.
Asked whether she would like to find a $500 tax rebate in her mailbox, she laughed and replied, "You can't be serious."
But the notion bothers her, too. White said state officials and revenue forecasters ought to be able to figure out in advance whether revenues will exceed expenses -- and not take money in the first place.
"You can't run a business like that. You can't run the state like that," White said.
On the other hand, White said, she favors more money for corrections officers -- she lives just a short walk from the Delaware Correctional Center.
"It certainly wouldn't make me feel less safe," said White, a harness-horse owner. "I don't think they can pay those guys enough."
Both Republicans and Democrats say they plan to increase pay for officers, many of whom have worked heavy overtime to keep prisons running. The state is recruiting to fill hundreds of vacant positions.
Bob Koppenhaver also sees the need to make sure the state can pay corrections officers enough to fill the vacancies.
"I know, from what I've been reading, that there are problems that need to be addressed at the Department of Correction," Koppenhaver said. "I'm all for tax cuts, but I think they need to make sure they're addressing the needs that are out there first.
"It seems like government waits until there is a crisis, then they scramble to find money," he said. "It would be nice to see government try to be proactive."
For example, as a school bus contractor in the Kent County town of Houston, he hopes the state uses some of its surplus to help drivers offset soaring fuel and health costs -- and prevent some from leaving the business.
Willing to pay to receive more
Some residents not only passed on the tax-cut temptation but also bit on the idea of paying more. They side with state Department of Transportation Secretary Nathan Hayward III, who said this month a toll hike on I-95 or higher titling fees, may be needed to catch up on road projects.
The state is about $200 million short of the money needed to begin all the projects on its six-year highway building plan. That work is paid for with tolls, motor vehicle registrations, title fees and fuel taxes.
Lewes retiree Perry Hood said his part of Sussex County needs help, whatever it takes.
"I think that we're victims, you might say, of a fairly long-term neglect of our roads down here, at least as long as I've lived here, which is five years," Hood said. "Except for adding an extra lane to Del. 1, virtually nothing's been done down here."
But if it comes down to it, Hood is willing to forgo his choice of entree -- highway improvements -- to help his fellow citizens.
"The release center and the educational topics, I would put higher priorities than even the infrastructure down here. We can live with some of the problems down here ... but I think education and things like helping people recover from serious personal problems and so on is the right way to go," Hood said.
Contact J.L. Miller at 678-4271 or jlmiller@delawareonline.com.
Contact Patrick Jackson at 678-4274 or pjackson@delawareonline.com.
