DOVER — Finding the increasing cost and instability of funding for beach replenishment untenable, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control initiated a study earlier this year to determine who benefits the most from nourishment and who should foot the bill.
The study’s first draft, released late last week in a virtual workshop, said it’s private and public property owners, infrastructure owners, recreators, businesspeople, local governments, residents and even state governments who gain the most and, therefore, should shoulder the cost.
But that’s not who is paying for it now, the study concludes. Under the existing system, the costs are split between federal and state sources, and the report states that Delaware’s funding isn’t very stable.
According to DNREC, one source of replenishment funds is from the state lodging tax, but revenues this year are down almost $2.5 million from 2023 — more than half and a level not seen since fiscal year 2021.
“For planning purposes, we usually say that we will have about $3.5 million from accommodation tax,” said Joanna French, acting program director for the department’s Shoreline and Waterway Management Section.