Delaware Property Tax Reassessments: The Wait Just Got Longer

New Castle County, Delaware has pushed back its court-mandated, county-wide reassessment—the first since 1983—by two years. Officials now suggest new assessments, and the overhauled valuation process now will go into effect in 2025. The reassessment is part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit over reassessment practices in Delaware. The Delaware counties have hired a third-party vendor to update property records for every parcel in the state and to reassess property to reflect current market value.

While firm dates are not set for most counties, New Castle County is working to have its assessment process completed for tax year 2025, with a valuation date of July 1, 2024. Currently, the county and its vendor are collecting data and updating valuation models for each parcel in the county, and it will soon be moving onto commercial property. Income and expense disclosure requests will be mailed to commercial property owners, as the assessor’s office will consider cost, income, and sale comparison methods to valuation. Currently, response to those requests is more likely than not to be voluntary.

The State of Delaware mandates that the counties cannot increase revenue more than 15% in the year after the reassessment and that the school districts cannot increase revenue more than 10% in the year after the reassessment. Additionally, New Castle County has pledged to not increase tax revenue, and the Delaware Legislature is considering new bills that would lower the school districts’ revenue increase cap. Individual municipalities have no such limits in place from the state. However, exact details of the impending new assessment (and appellate) processes are not yet known.

Ryan is happy to assist Delaware property owners and managers through the uncertainty of these reassessments. Please relay any communication between Kent, New Castle, or Sussex counties to our team for assistance and recommendations on how to proceed.