One of the two Delaware Senate bills designed to fix issues that arose in the 2025 reassessment of all First State properties now heads to Gov. Matt Meyer on Jan. 29. 

The passed bill would allow New Castle County to carry out “a quality control review” of select property assessments with any clerical or actual errors, as well as nonresidential properties valued at or more than $300,000 “that decreased from their previously assessed value, or whose tax value is 25% less than its most recent sale price,” among other requirements, as previously reported.   

Many commercial properties received a tax break due to the recently assessed property tax values, while many with residential properties – including small-business owners – saw a spike in their tax bills.   

An additional House amendment, which clarifies that the review parameters listed in the bill do not limit New Castle County “to otherwise make revisions and corrections” to county property assessments, and that the county can conduct additional review “where it appears that an error or mistake in valuation may have occurred,” was introduced. This amendment later cleared the floor by a voice vote.

How we got here: Delaware House committee clears bills on assessment, tax adjustments

The bill cleared the full House floor, with 35 lawmakers in support, 3 against and 3 not voting.

The amended bill then returned to the Senate chamber, where members suspended rules and passed the bill at the end of session. Fifteen state senators voted in favor, while six abstained from voting.

This comes with only days to spare, as Romer wanted to pass this legislation before lawmakers break for Joint Finance Committee hearings.

Doing so would allow counties enough time to adjust and get to work before the next tax bills go out, she explained.

The second of these bills would grant the financial offices of New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties the subpoena power to fix future property reassessments.   

The bill would give these bodies a little more authority to press properties – particularly the nonresidential kind – for more information when modifying assessments based on the frequently used income approach. Legislators have previously insisted such power would be used sparingly.

Despite being on the full floor agenda, has not yet made an appearance.

Joint Finance Committee hearings are scheduled to begin Feb. 3. This will mean the legislative session is on hold until March 10.

It is not yet known when the second of these bills will be heard next.

Olivia Montes covers state government and community impact for Delaware Online/The News Journal. If you have a tip or a story idea, reach out to her at omontes@delawareonline.com. 

Recommended budget aims to close ‘structural gap’

Meyer said there was a structural gap between expenses and revenue of more than $500 million. He’s proposing reductions to several areas of the budget to help close the divide.

“We don’t believe in going around and cutting government with chainsaws,” he said. “We believe in doing it with scalpels, going line by line, looking intelligently at the services Delawareans are receiving and making sure that we can make more efficient those that aren’t working or don’t make sense.”

Brian Maxwell, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said spending on cost drivers, which totals $524 million, has grown 8% from the current fiscal year. The administration wants to reduce cost drivers by nearly $108 million. Maxwell said Medicaid, inmate medical services, personnel cost and student population growth make up 66% of total for cost drivers.

Other reductions include a $131 million reduction in state investments and a $168 million cut in one-time spending.

The governor’s recommended capital projects legislation, known as the Bond Bill, is $43 million less than the $934 million total in fiscal 26. The recommended budget also slashes $12.5 million from last year’s grants-in-aid bill, giving about $85.5 million in state funding to nonprofits, local fire companies and senior centers.

Meyer also wants to use $10 million to create a film tax credit.

Adding revenue from fees and taxes

The administration wants to balance the budget by raising approximately $160 million in new revenue.

Meyer did not include a proposal to revamp the state’s regressive personal income tax system so wealthier residents would pay more taxes, one of his signature priorities he outlined last year.

About $81 million of that would come from revamping business formation fees, such as when companies form limited liability companies, or LLCs, and the annual franchise tax. Another $18.9 million would come from hiking tobacco taxes, including taxes on cigarettes and vaping products. The tax on cigarettes would go from $2.10 to $3.60 per pack.

House Speaker Melissa “Mimi” Minor-Brown introduced legislation to raise tobacco taxes last year, but it stalled in committee.

Meyer said the proposed tobacco tax increase reflects changes in how people consume nicotine and how outdated the current tax structure has become.

“The tobacco tax also has to do with the changing nature of that industry and tobacco products,” Meyer said. “When you look at the tax system we have in place now for tobacco, I don’t think it makes sense for the current industry — and I wouldn’t say that about alcohol.”

Senate budget chief Trey Paradee, D-Dover, said he’s unsure there’s the political will to rework the tax brackets.

“Coming out of this property reassessment debacle, for lack of a better word, I don’t think that there is much of an appetite to touch people’s personal income taxes at this time,” he said.

• Wegmans acknowledged using facial recognition technology for security in a limited number of stores.
• The company states the technology is only used to identify individuals previously flagged for misconduct.
• Delaware’s Personal Data Privacy Act requires businesses to get consent before collecting sensitive data like biometrics.

In January, reports of signs notifying shoppers that their biometric data was being collected at a Wegmans store in New York City prompted the grocery chain to acknowledge that it uses facial recognition technology in a limited number of locations. The company says the cameras are part of its security strategy, but the disclosures have raised questions about whether similar surveillance are being used in other states, including Delaware.

In a statement issued after the signage drew public attention, Wegmans said facial recognition technology is used only in “a small fraction of our stores located in communities that exhibit an elevated risk.” According to the Rochester, New York-based retailer, the system collects facial recognition data only to identify individuals who have previously been flagged for misconduct.

Wegmans said it does not collect other forms of biometric data such as retinal scans or voice prints, and that images and video are retained only as long as needed for security purposes before being discarded.

When asked by Delaware Online/The News Journal whether facial recognition is used at its lone Delaware location, Wegmans did not provide a direct answer. Marcie Rivera, a spokesperson for the chain, said the company follows a single privacy policy for all shoppers nationwide. She noted the policy incorporates the privacy requirements of every state where the company operates, including Delaware.

How Delaware law protects personal data collection

All businesses operating in the First State are required to comply with Delaware’s Personal Data Privacy Act, which took effect in January 2025. Whether online or in person, the statute allows residents to opt-out of the collection of covered personal information and requires businesses to obtain consent before collecting sensitive personal data.

Personal data is defined as any information that can be linked to an identifiable individual, excluding publicly available information. This includes a name, address, phone number, email, mobile or computer device identifier.