New Castle County to begin revamping local property tax system
From Delaware Online
New Castle County has agreed to recalculate the property values it uses to set local tax bills, beginning a process that could lead to widespread changes to property taxes in the coming years.
The commitment was made as part of a legal settlement approved by a Delaware Chancery Court judge last week. The settlement seeks to end the county’s involvement for now in a lawsuit aimed at recalculating unconstitutional property tax valuations throughout the state.
As of now, Kent and Sussex counties, which are also defendants in the lawsuit, have not submitted a similar agreement, meaning litigation involving the future recalculation of tax values in those counties will continue.
The New Castle County agreement was prompted by a judge’s ruling last year that the long-term lack of a reassessment of local property values used to calculate tax bills has led to a system where some property owners get artificial tax breaks and some pay more than their fair share based on their property’s actual worth.