Delaware senators pass reassessment, tax adjustments with 2 bills

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.