Sussex County introduces its Fiscal Year 2025 budget, and it’s lower than this year.

The proposed budget is almost $266 million dollars. That’s about $13 million less than the current year as American Rescue Plan Act funds come off the books.

There is no increase in taxes, but the county proposes using reserves to balance the budget with $12.4 million going to the General Fund and $11.9 to the Capital Fund.

The good news is there is no increase in property taxes, but residents can expect fee increases.

“We do have some changes in fees,” said Jennings. “I am proposing a $25 annual increase in our water rates, that’s a 6.4% increase, a $10 increase in sewer rates.”

That’s Sussex County Finance Director Gina Jennings who adds the proposed sewer increase is three percent.

The county also wants to add fees according to Jennings.

“A new fee, it’s a plan resubmittal fee, it’s $300 per occurrence, and this would be happening in two different departments, one being in the engineering department for sewer and road reviews. They get a lot of reviews from engineers and we ask exactly what we need and sometimes we have to reject them and we have to start all over again. So staff’s asking to help with the backlog is that we implement a rejection fee,” said Jennings.

The other department using that new fee would be Planning and Zoning. Currently the county doesn’t charge a fee to go back and review again.

Another proposed fee is for use of the Data Center in Seaford by municipalities who want to store data off-site. It would be either $500 per month for a half a rack and $1,000 per month for a full rack.

There will be a public hearing on the budget on June 18^th at 10:15 in council chambers at the Sussex County Administration Building.

County Council needs to approve a final budget by June 30^th.

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One guy went by the moniker “Reaper.” Another used the name “Synthetics.” A third’s alias was “bit coin.”

The trio of young men lived in Virginia, Maryland and Ohio but formed the backbone of an online network that called itself “Purgatory.”

They used Instagram, Telegram, and other social media platforms to post messages of mayhem, with their rants attracting some 200 followers, including  one teenager in Massachusetts whose username was “clinicallyinsaneog.”

The FBI charges that Purgatory’s purpose was to cause criminal chaos — at a Delaware high school, an Ohio casino, a New York airport, and elsewhere in the United States — by engaging in the federal crime of “swatting,” according to a recently unsealed indictment in Maryland.

Swatting is the act of calling law enforcement agencies and falsely reporting an emergency that’s either in progress or will occur. So-called swatters use computer-based phone lines to conceal their identities.

The aim is to get armed officers or even a police force’s special weapons and tactics unit (SWAT) to respond to the reported bomb threat, active shooter, or other violent crime. Far from a harmless crime, in a handful of cases, swatting has led to the death of the hoax target.

Court papers in a related case against the man who uses the online name “Reaper” say members of Purgatory have committed a variety of other crimes — “hacking, blackmail, extorting individuals for money, extorting females for explicit photos or videos of themselves, and extorting females to commit acts of self-harm.”

Alleged swatter said active shooter was inside Newark High

The alleged swatting incident in Delaware occurred about 1 p.m. on Jan. 4. The victims were the several hundred students and staff at Newark High School.

The call to Newark police was placed from 300 miles away in rural Moneta, Va., from a Google Voice number, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland.

The caller was 26-year-old Evan Strauss, who uses the names “Reaper” and “ex_nightmare” in Purgatory messages, the indictment said.

During the call, Strauss identified himself as Richard Wilson and said he was inside Newark High, where he “heard a man firing shots in the hallway,” the indictment said. The caller said he was hiding “inside a classroom with 10 other people.’’

At about the same time, authorities charge that Purgatory member 18-year-old Owen Jarboe used a TextNow number to call Newark police from Hagerstown, Md., 130 miles away.

Jarboe, who uses the names “Synthetics” and “yoboyqzippy” online, threatened to shoot an unidentified teacher and kill several students he did not name, the indictment said.

The alarming calls led Newark police to dispatch several officers to the school, located a few blocks from the University of Delaware campus. School resource and security officers already inside the school were also alerted.

Christina School District board member Doug Manley said school administrators immediately initiated a “secure hold” that involved restricting access in and out of the building. Authorities soon realized the call was a hoax and dismissed students on time, but after-school activities were postponed, and police remained there for hours, Manley said.

Meanwhile, Purgatory members reveled in the hoax’s success on a group chat, the indictment said.

According to the indictment, Jarboe messaged 18-year-old Brayden Grace, who used the online name “bit coin” and lives in Columbus, Ohio. “You saw what me and nightmare did to the school. Post it in telegram chat,’’ Jarboe wrote.

Later, an identified member posted links to news reports about the Delaware incident on Telegram. “Purgatory is on the roll again,’’ and added: “This was a school that was evacuated seems to [have] some issues with it being on lockdown and not functioning properly.”

Strauss later posted that Newark High was “still on lockdown,’’ leading one unidentified member to exclaim, “LMAO … What was the script LOL.”

The alleged attack against Newark High was one of several crimes the FBI says Purgatory members committed in December and January. The indictment did not say how the defendants selected their alleged targets.

Title: Chair & Managing Principal

Workplace: Leon N. Weiner & Associates

Alma Maters: St. Anselm College, Suffolk University

Boards: Council on Development Finance

Wilmington-based homebuilder Kevin Kelly has been a tireless advocate for affordable housing in Delaware and throughout the United States over a decades-long career. Leon N. Weiner & Associates (LNWA) has a diverse portfolio of both affordable housing and commercial projects, building, developing and/or operating more than 14,000 homes, rental properties and apartments across 10 states for people of all income levels, and more than 650 hotel rooms. The firm has developed a reputation for firsts in affordable housing construction and financing, building Delaware’s first integrated community, the first turnkey public housing community, the first new construction Section 8 housing and the first Hope VI housing. Kelly’s leadership in those efforts led to his induction into the National Housing Hall of Fame.