Delaware
Delaware senators pass reassessment, tax adjustments with 2 bills
Delaware property reassessment: How did we get here?
Delaware only got here after a court ruled its previous reassessment and property tax model violated its own constitution. Now, messy or not, results of the reassessment shift tax burden across newly determined fair market values.
The Delaware Senate passed two bills on Jan. 22 that address the 2025 reassessment of all Delaware properties.
One bill allows New Castle County to perform a quality-control check on some assessments, especially for nonresidential properties that saw large drops in value. The other gives subpoena power to the finance offices of each county government.
Both bills now head to the House, and if passed, would need a signature from Gov. Matt Meyer.
Quality control in New Castle County
Some commercial properties got a tax break as a result of the newly assessed property tax values. Those breaks were the opposite of what many residential properties saw, which was a jump in their tax bills.
Small-business owners have been affected by higher tax bills, sponsor and Bellefonte Democratic Sen. Dan Cruce said, along with the many residents in his district.
The bill would require New Castle County to conduct a quality-control check on assessments with actual and clerical errors and for nonresidential properties that saw a decrease of at least $300,000 from their previously assessed value or whose tax value is 25% less than its most recent sale price, among other criteria.
“This bill represents a policy solution and a commitment to fairness and transparency,” Cruce said in the session in Dover on Jan. 22.
Wilmington has invested $500,000 into block-by-block assessments to bring to the county for adjustments, along with programs for taxpayers to better navigate their new bills. Wilmington and assessment contractor Tyler Technologies have acknowledged that some residential property values fell “outside of industry standards.”
City Council member Christian Willauer, who has been outspoken about the reassessment’s impact on Wilmington, said this legislation is not enough to fix faulty assessments.
“If the legislature thinks the county doesn’t have authorization, they need to give the county unlimited authorization,” she said. “Don’t limit them on what errors they can fix.”
Any adjustments have to be made by Sept. 30, the bill says, and tax statements with school taxes need to be mailed by Nov. 16. The tax payment deadline is Dec. 31 in the bill. It passed with 17 “yes” votes and 4 absent votes.
County Finance offices could get a boost of legal authority
Every county’s finance office might have subpoena power to fix reassessments in the future.
A bill sponsored by Elsmere Democratic Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos gives a little more legal power to county finance offices to compel particularly nonresidential properties for more information when adjusting assessments based on the commonly used income approach. Lawmakers insisted it will be used sparingly.
It passed with 15 “yes” votes, 1 absent, 1 “no” and 4 not voting.
Shane Brennan covers Wilmington and other Delaware issues. Reach out with ideas, tips or feedback about reassessment and property taxes at slbrennan@delawareonline.com.
300 years later, Shad welcomed back to Brandywine
Dam removal begins in the Brandywine as the Shad and other fish are welcomed back to historic breeding grounds. The project is the first of many on the waterway and one of a series in the Delaware River watershed.
William Bretzger, The News Journal
The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
20 years ago, The News Journal, June 7, 2006
100-year-old Stone Balloon demolished for condominiums
There was no ceremony or parting words. Just the sound of the orange high-reach excavator machine as it began clawing into the wall of the Stone Balloon tavern on East Main Street in Newark.
A large crowd gathered Tuesday to watch the 100-year-old building come down. As the familiar walls crumbled, they snapped photos on their digital cameras and cell phones.
Owner Jim Baeurle will replace the tavern with a 54-unit project called the Washington House Condominium, as well as retail and office space. Demolition could take several days. Construction is set to start in July.
“To me, the emotional part was on Dec. 17, saying goodbye to the staff and customers,” Baeurie said before the demolition. “But now we turn the page and bring to Main Street what I tried to do for two years. The excitement outweighs the sadness.”
University of Delaware students, residents and business owners had mixed emotions.
Travis Duke, 22, a UD senior from Wilmington, went to the Balloon every Thursday night for two years. His dad went there in the 1970s to watch George Thorogood perform.
“I’m upset,” Duke said. “You can’t really replace the Stone Balloon with condos. It was a one-of-a-kind type of place.”…
The Stone Balloon was opened by Bill Stevenson in 1972.
“I don’t think people will ever realize how much fun we had at this building,” Stevenson said.
50 years ago, The Morning News, June 9, 1976
Governor vetoes bill to merge 3 vo-tech schools
Fearing more problems with budget deficits and desegregation, Gov. Sherman W. Tribbitt yesterday announced his veto of a bill to put three New Castle County vocational schools under the control of a single school board. ….
The bill would have given the New Castle County Vocational Technical Board of Education control over Wilmington’s Howard Career Center which opened last year and Newark’s Hodgson Vocational-Technical School, due to open this fall. …
Before making the decision, Tribbitt talked with Albert H. Jones Jr., president of the State Board of Education. He also met with vo-tech officials and school superintendents from Wilmington and Newark which would have lost control of their vocational schools through the bill….
While vetoing the merger bill, Tribbitt let stand the two companion measures. Those bills increase the vo-tech property tax from 3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 4 cents in Sussex County, 4 cents this year and 5 cents next year in Kent County, and 8 cents in New Castle County. The revenues raised in New Castle County will be split, based on enrollment, among the Wilmington, Newark and vo-tech districts.
Tribbitt said the cost of consolidating the three vocational schools under one board would be greater than the increased taxes would raise. The problem, he said, is “leveling up,” which state law requires when districts are consolidated. By putting three schools under one district’s control, the district would have to pay all staff according to a pay scale equal to the highest now existing at any of them. That, Tribbitt said, would have created at least a $300,000 deficit next year.
Desegregation was mentioned indirectly in the veto message, but Jones elaborated on it. In consolidating, Jones said, the district’s three schools would have to meet U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare standards. Those standards require that the district couldn’t have one school with mostly white students while another was mostly black or have a similar racial imbalance between teachers at different schools.
Meeting those guidelines, Tribbitt said, could have meant “significant shifts” in students, teachers, administrators and programs. “It could have meant busing,” a Tribbitt aide noted.
100 years ago, The Evening Journal, June 12, 1926
Wilmington to join in nation’s 150th birthday celebration
Wilmington Mayor Forrest, at 11:11 a.m. on June 28, simultaneously with the ringing of the Liberty Bell by Mayor Kendrick in Philadelphia, will ring a bell in this city, as an echo of the tolling of the symbol of liberty.
The ringing of the bell will be a signal for the commencement of American Independence Week.
President Coolidge in Washington is expected to perform a similar service, and each of the state governors are expected at that time to toll a bell in the state capitols.
The week has been set aside by a special act of Congress for the celebration of the 150th birthday of the Declaration of Independence and commemorating the Centennial of the death of its author, Thomas Jefferson.
Claude G. Bowers, executive secretary of the national commission, yesterday wired Mayor Forrest about the celebration and received an immediate return telegram from the mayor assuring the commission of his fullest cooperation. …
The tentative program follows: “Patriot’s Pledge of Faith Day” on Monday, “Universal Education Day” Tuesday, “Founders Day” Wednesday, “Great American Day” Thursday, “Signers Day” Friday, “Monticello Day” Saturday, “Jefferson Centennial Day” Sunday and “Sesqui-Centennial Independence Day” on Monday.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
Residents in Wilmington are testing a traffic safety measure they hope will make a dangerous intersection safer and eventually lead to permanent changes.
With permission from the city, neighbors spent a whole day cleaning, taping off and painting part of the area around Lancaster Avenue and Connell Street as part of a temporary project known as daylighting.
Daylighting improves visibility at intersections by preventing vehicles from parking closest to corners, making it easier for drivers, pedestrians and others using the roadway to see one another.
Organizers say the temporary project is only supposed to last for a few days. Afterward, they plan to survey neighbors to determine whether residents believe it improved safety.
Neighbors say this intersection has long been a concern because vehicles often travel fast down Lancaster Avenue, making it difficult for drivers on Connell Street to safely see oncoming traffic when turning onto the avenue.
“This is local. It’s a local solution from a local set of neighbors who are taking matters into their own hands,” Jamila Davey of Green for the Greater Good said.
For Tracy Jenkins, who lives nearby, the project is personal.
“There used to be a building that sat on this block here, it got hit and knocked off the foundation,” Jenkins said. “My mom every time she gets in the car she cringes because of being afraid of us being hit. It’s just horrible.”
If neighbors believe the temporary project made the intersection safer, organizers plan to push the city and DelDOT to make the daylighting measures permanent.
For now, residents say the effort is about trying to solve a problem they see every day in their neighborhood.
“You gotta try so we’ve gotta try this first,” Jenkins said.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication.
Delaware
Recovery mission underway on Delaware River after Philadelphia barber goes missing in the water
Marine crews are searching for a man who went missing in the Delaware River in Philadelphia on Friday morning.
The search is focused on a stretch of the river between North Delaware and Linden avenues.
Investigators say just after midnight, the man jumped from a boat and went into the water, but then disappeared and never came back up.
Friends identified the man as Carlos Manuel, saying he is a well-known barber in Philadelphia. Friends say he is in his early 30s and had been drinking before entering the river.
Authorities believe this happened during a large social gathering on the water.
“He swam out of the boat with my other friend and the last word he told my friend [was] ‘hey, I can’t no more, I love you,’” a friend told CBS News Philadelphia. “That breaks my heart because the last word he said is I can’t swim anymore and I love you.”
Police have not yet confirmed the man’s identity.
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