SB 57

Abstract

This Act amends the Charter of the Town of Wyoming (“Charter”) to clarify the authority of the Town in certain areas and to improve the operations of the Town. Specifically, in this Act: (1) Section 1 changes when newly elected Town Council members take office. Instead of waiting from the date of the election in February until May to take office, new council members would take office at an organizational meeting to be held as soon as possible following the sixth day from the certification of the election. (2) Section 2 simplifies the process for filling a vacancy on Town Council. (3) Section 3 is correlated with Section 1 and clarifies when new council members take office. Additionally, this Section establishes at will employment for all employees who do not have an employment contract. (4) Section 4 clarifies that the Mayor is authorized to vote as a member of Council in all situations and not just to break a tie and establish a majority vote. (5) Section 5 authorizes the Town to hire a Police Chief pursuant to an employment contract and allows the Town to not renew an employment contract without a finding of just cause or holding a hearing under Chapter 93 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code. (6) Section 6 establishes procedures for the Town to hire a Town Manager. (7) Section 7 authorizes the Town to issue quarterly supplemental tax assessment invoices for those properties that have had quarterly supplemental tax assessments completed by Kent County. Invoices paid within 30 days of the mailing of the supplemental tax invoice are to be given a 3% discount, and any invoices paid more than 90 days after the mailing of the supplemental tax invoice are subject to penalties and collection procedures outlined in the Charter. (8) Section 8 allows the Town to make allowances for delinquent taxes. This Section amends the Town’s ability to recover costs associated with collection proceedings to more closely reflect the monition method of collecting outstanding taxes. This Section clarifies that costs or assessments are subject to the lien process. (9) Section 9 authorizes the Town to enforce the removal of snow, ice, and dirt from sidewalks and gutters and authorizes the Town to assess individual members of a homeowners’ association for expenses incurred by the Town to bring property owned by the association into compliance with Town and State laws when the homeowners’ association fails to pay the amounts or has ceased to operate. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a municipal charter. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform the Charter to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.