Newark City Council voted 6-1 against a tax rate split for residential and commercial property owners at Monday’s meeting.
Several New Castle County school districts joined the county in implementing split tax rates last month so commercial owners shoulder more of the burden following the reassessment.
But Newark City Council broke that pattern. Council member Corinth Ford said she would be in favor of a split tax rate, but there are too many moving parts right now.
“We run the risk of making something worse,” Ford said. “And with all due respect to the staff – [who have] done an incredible job pulling these numbers together – I mean, this is a big issue to consider in the short time and to consider all the ramifications. So I would rather do nothing now, see what happens with the county.”
Post-reassessment numbers saw more of the tax burden moved to residential properties in New Castle County. In Newark, the residential share jumped from about 64% in 2024 to about 72% this year, according to the city manager's report.
Councilman Jay Bancroft was the sole vote against the motion. He said Newark should mirror the county’s approach and implement a split rate.
“When the county fixes, it will just sort of lock step again and follow their fix,” Bancroft said. “And we won't have a city burden to do our own review and repeal and reassessment process because it's going to be clumped up with what goes on with the county. That's my instinct.”
Councilmember John Suchanec said he’s not in favor of the two-tier system.
“It's unfair to the non-residential properties,” Suchanec said. “I don't think we should be in the appeals business. I don't think we should just sit on it and wait for somebody else to hopefully make changes. I think we should be proactive.”
Council members also considered putting tax exemptions in place to help residential owners. City Manager Tom Coleman presented five options for exemptions, including one that would shift the burden back to the pre-reassessment ratio in Newark and others that offered residents flat-rate exemptions.
“I would tend to stay away from the tiered system and, looking at [...] the current options, other than kicking the can down the road, go with one of the exemption options,” Councilmember Emile Brown said.
Several councilmembers voiced support for the exemptions but ended up dropping the idea.
While the reassessment was revenue neutral, residential property owners overall saw their taxes increase while non-residential properties — which include commercial properties and apartments — largely saw their bills decrease.
City Manager Coleman warned Council members he and the city attorney think a tax split would put the city at risk legally.
Coleman recommended using some version of an exemption.
