A new bill filed would mandate statewide property reassessments every five years.
Delaware is presently undergoing property reassessments following a 2020 Chancery Court decision that ruled the state’s property tax system unconstitutional as part of an education funding lawsuit.
Properties across Delaware haven’t been reassessed in decades and the state currently has no statute dictating the timeline for those reassessments. But House Bill 62, sponsored by State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton (D-Bear), would ensure property reassessments don’t have to go back to the courts to get done.
“We don’t know this for a fact until we actually finish reassessment but the estimation was that about a third of people’s bills will go up, a third will go down and a third will stay the same,” Wilson-Anton says.
Wilson-Anton says without consistent property reassessments, Delawareans face inequitable taxation.
“We need to be looking at people’s taxes based on how much things are actually worth and not based on a number from 40 years ago.”
She introduced a similar bill last session that made it through committee with bipartisan support, so Wilson-Anton hopes this session the bill will make it to the Governor’s desk.
“We haven’t had periodic assessments so we’re setting a standard now heading into the future so we want to make sure that it’s sustainable," Wilson-Anton says. "And I just really hope we don’t have to end up in the courts again to get this kind of thing done.”
She adds property taxes go towards things like schools, parks and roads, all of which have been receiving incorrect funding for years due to the outdated property values.
