All New Castle County (NCC) residents should have received their property reassessments by now, but if you see a higher number, don’t stress yet.
NCC properties haven’t been assessed since 1983, and the county is now finalizing a roughly four-year court-ordered project to update those values.
All three counties were forced to begin reassessments under settlement of an education funding lawsuit brought by civil rights groups in 2021.
While many residents may see their property values double, if not quadruple, Mike McFarlane of Tyler Technologies — the company contracted to carry out the reappraisal — explains why a higher property value does not necessarily mean a higher tax rate.
“The expectation is for the county's portion of the tax bill, that that tax bill will drop, commensurate with an aggregate revenue neutral stance, meaning that they will not take an additional dollar from their portion of the tax bill," McFarlane said.
The county committed to raising no additional revenue with this reassessment, meaning tax rates will likely decrease to maintain a net neutral tax income.
The chance of your tax payment increasing is only if your reassessed value is higher than the average change of similar properties.
Kent County already executed this revenue neutral approach following their reassessment — the county's previous rate was 36 cents per $100 of assessed value, it will now drop to 5.72 cents per $100 of assessed value.
McFarlane does note this net-zero revenue commitment only applies to the county — residents could still see increases on their tax bill from school districts and municipalities.
Although, some NCC districts, such as Red Clay and Brandywine, have indicated they also intend to take a revenue neutral approach to reassessment.
McFarlane says if residents are not satisfied with their reassessment value, there is an appeal process.
"For the public receiving these notices, the question that they should ultimately ask themselves is, 'Do I believe that I can sell my home for the assessed value that's on this tentative assessed value notice as of July 1, 2024, or in today's market?' To say it a little bit more simply, if they don't believe that they could sell their home for that, or their property for that, then we would encourage them to schedule an informal value hearing if they think they can sell their home for more than what we've suggested their assessed value would be."
A request for review must be made within two weeks of receiving the tentative assessed value notice. Information about scheduling an appeal hearing can be found on the tentative assessed value notice, or:
To schedule by phone, call 1-855-670-2658. Call center hours are Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Or, you can book online at https://calendly.com/d/cngk-hvz-kxf — online scheduling is available 24 hours a day.
The call center will be operating from November 15 through December 20, 2024, and informal hearings will be conducted by Tyler Technologies from November 2024 through January 2025.
Find more information about the documentation to bring to your hearing here.
If a resident is still not satisfied after an informal review, a formal appeal may be filed with the New Castle County’s Assessment Office.
Tax rates will be set in spring 2025 and a county property tax bill reflecting new assessed values and tax rates will be mailed in July 2025.
