HB 121

Abstract

This bill makes the following amendments to the Charter of the Town of Milton: 1) Removal of an outdated metes and bounds description, in recognition of the current Town Map and recordation of any changes to the Town boundaries; 2) Use of a Special Review Committee for annexation petitions, with that committee having a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission and two Councilmembers, rather than three Councilmembers; 3) Uniformity in use of the term “Mayor and Town Council”; 4) Uniformity in reflecting administrative authority resting with the Town Manager or designee, and thus removal of vestiges from when the Town Clerk was the highest administrator; 5) Change of newspaper notice provisions from three newspapers to one newspaper plus publication on the Town website; 6) An update of the Town’s election procedures to reflect the State Constitution and the Delaware Code, including the Election Officers’ duties and a reduction of the residency requirement from 60 days to 30 days before the election; 7) Inclusion of a procedure to update the Town’s voter rolls; 8) Revision to the terms used for multiple Council meetings to avoid confusion with FOIA; 9) An adjustment to the Mayor’s and Councilmembers’ compensation per meeting; 10) Inclusion of authority for the Town to solicit letter quotations from at least three qualified responsible providers for materials or services between $5,000 and $20,000, when full competitive bidding is not often cost-effective; 11) Express adoption of the Code of Conduct in the Delaware Code; 12) Express adoption of FIOA’s definition for “public records” for inspection; 13) Removal of the alternative title of “Town Administrator” for the Town Manager; 14) Discretion in whether the Mayor and Council hire a Town Clerk, as opposed to the requirement of hiring a Town Manager; 15) Revisions to the management of the Police Department, including expressly providing that: a) the Mayor and Council establish the Department’s duties, which the Police Chief then directs; b) that direction to members of the Department be given through the Police Chief; c) that the Chief reports to the Town Manager for financial duties; d) that the Department shall preserve peace and order in Town limits and within one mile thereof; and e) that the Department need not take a person arrested to SCI, since other facilities, such as the Stevenson House for juveniles, may be the proper facilities; 16) Removal of the requirement that a costly full Town assessment be performed every ten years, and instead, that the Mayor and Council review the Town Assessor’s report each year; 17) Removal of the authority to tax vacant commercial structures in the Town Center District; 18) Reduction of the interest on delinquent property taxes from 2% per month to the legal rate in 6 Del. C. Section 2301; 19) Removal of the Town Manager’s liability on his or her bond for failure to account for uncollected taxes unless there is a showing of pursuing all remedies unsuccessfully; 20) Reduction of the redemption period following a tax sale from one year to 90 days, which is more comparable to the counties’ 60-day period; 21) Adjustment in the authority to establish fines, increasing the maximum to $2,500, except that fines for violations relating to historic preservation may exceed that amount; 22) Reduction of the maximum indebtedness of the Town for bonds and securities from 25% to 5% of the total assessments in Town; and 23) Expansion of the eligibility to vote in a special referendum regarding bond issuance to include resident non-property owners.