Delaware lawmakers pick up the issue of property taxes again, with the end of their 153rdlegislative session in sight.
State Rep. Cyndie Romer (D-Newark) was one of the lawmakers to introduce a package of six pieces of legislation aimed at correcting issues related to recent property reassessments statewide and in New Castle County. Romer was on the special property tax hearing committee that met from September to December 2025.
“The thing that I felt strongly about from the very beginning was establishing a strong tax base...” Romer said. “...We can't build a house on a rocky foundation, or at least, shouldn't build a house on a rocky foundation.”
And to Romer, that means setting statewide property assessment standards for counties to follow. She introduced House Concurrent Resolution 150 Thursday, which would create a Property Assessment Working Group. It’s job: meet for six months before Delaware’s 154th legislative session and introduce legislation that would create standards for the next reassessment, coming up in 2030.
One of the bills sponsored by Romer, HB 460 , focuses on her district, in New Castle County. It asks that building inspectors report permits issued for new buildings, repairs, or additions made on a property to the local Office of Finance every month. This measure comes from hearing findings, Romer said, that New Castle County was working with incomplete information during their last reassessment.
“...the city of Wilmington had not been sending (the county) permit data for years,” Romer said. “And that lack of information–becauseall of that data builds into the models–also tainted theinvestment values.”
She added, though these measures are being introduced in June, she and other lawmakers have been workshopping them over a period of months.
Last year, the General Assembly convened for a special session and passed several pieces of legislation to provide immediate relief from issues created that came from the first in decades assessments conducted from 2023 to 2024.
One measure to come from that special session was HB 242. It allowed school districts in New Castle County to reset their tax rates and apply a split rate to commercial and residential businesses during the 2025-2026 school year.
Romer introduced another bill Thursday that helps continue that in the 2026-2027 school year, allowing New Castle County schools to again adjust their rates in 2026-2027.
And State Rep. Kim Williams (D-Stanton) introduced a bill, HB 462, that allows districts in Delaware's northern county to apply a split rate to residential and commercial properties.
Romer noted that HB 462 lowers the commercial property rate cap from twice the residential rate to 1.85, to address concerns heard from businesses.
Romer said her HB 461 and Williams’s 462 help districts avert possible increases to operating revenue over the previous year, as New Castle County continues to make corrections to inequitable assessed properties.
Another measure ,HB 463, expands income eligibility for New Castle County seniors to qualify for school property tax exemptions from less than $20,000 up to $65,000.It does not include social security.
One other measure, House Concurrent Resolution 151, is sponsored by State Rep. Eric Morrison (D-Glasgow). It creates another working group to consider long-term reforms and relief to Delaware’s property tax laws.
Romer said she anticipates more legislation to improve the state’s property tax system will be introduced over the next few legislative sessions, as lawmakers are able to observe effectiveness of policies passed immediately after the recent court-ordered reassessments in all three counties.
