HB 456 Summary

• Amends the City of Dover Charter with technical corrections including consistent capitalization, terminology updates, and removal of outdated provisions from Section 5

• Establishes new eligibility and procedural requirements: candidates for mayor/council must be registered voters; nominating petitions must be filed between January 1-31; election board members must recuse themselves from campaigns

• Relocates the city's realty transfer tax authority from Section 3 (pension systems) to new Section 49B (financial affairs) for better organization

• Adjusts governance and financial procedures including: annual salary adoption with budget ordinance, mayoral/council pay raises tied to non-bargaining employee increases, city manager residency requirement of Kent County within 180 days of hire

• Authorizes council to issue tax-exempt or taxable municipal conduit bonds without referendum vote and increases general obligation bond authority from 0.25% to 1% of assessed property value for capital projects