Delaware seniors in ‘limbo’ worrying property value reassessments will drive up next year’s taxes

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This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Seniors Jo Ann Payne and her husband Mark said they were stunned when the Wilmington house they bought in 1993 for nearly $144,000 was tentatively reassessed to be worth $555,900, a 544% increase. Payne said she’s worried their property taxes are about to go up. Her husband is retired and she’s working a part-time job without benefits.

“There’s no way we could sell our house for the price that’s quoted here,” Payne said. “I just kind of feel like we’re in limbo. I’m hoping that our taxes don’t go up as much as we think they’re going to.”

New Castle County is assessing property values for the first time since 1983.

The county has promised that the overall impact of the reassessments will be revenue-neutral for the county, but individual property owners could see their property taxes rise, fall or stay about the same.

Newark realtor Todd Ruckle said he believes tax increases will hit seniors in older homes the hardest.

“They were assessed in ‘83 at an extremely low number, and now they’re up to market value,” he said. “And those are the people that are going to see taxes that could go up 30%–35%. They’re the ones that are really going to pay the price.”

Bear resident Diane Nieves’ tentative reassessment for her mobile home is more than 700% higher than her current assessed value of $17,700. She’s a retiree whose husband passed away in 2017. Her new assessed value is $142,100.

“A house, maybe 10 homes down on the same side of the street, double-wide, just sold for $75,000, so I don’t know how they can actually say that this is worth $140,000,” she said. “I don’t want to pay double my tax next year.”

According to an online tool designed by Wilmington resident Randy Westergren, Payne’s tax bill could go up by more than $1,000, or about 35%. Nieves’ taxes could increase by about $400, or nearly 68%. Westergren is a principal engineer and senior director at a financial services company.

Delaware’s three counties went decades without conducting property assessments. New Castle went 41 years without doing one. Kent County did them previously in 1987, and the last one in Sussex was in 1974. A lawsuit brought by civil rights groups argued that the lack of current property assessments contributed to inequities in how schools were funded. A Chancery Court judge agreed in 2020 that all property should be taxed equitably and at fair market value.

School districts and the city of Wilmington are not bound by the county’s pledge to stay revenue-neutral after the assessments. By law, school districts can exact a 10% increase in their portion of property taxes.

Nieves said she is concerned that her local school district, Colonial, will grab the additional revenue even though a referendum passed in February.

“That’s a big, big, big concern of mine,” she said. “I don’t mind paying for roofs being repaired and teachers and things, but I don’t see why they need a football complex with lights and everything else.”

Colonial Chief Financial Officer Emily Falcon said she won’t be able to recommend to the school board whether the district should raise taxes by 10% until the county gives her the final property tax data and the potential value of outstanding appeals around May or June. School districts must give the county their tax rates by the second Thursday in July, and the county will send out the bills later that month.

Some New Castle County residents said the tentative assessed values issued recently by Tyler Technologies are starkly different in price from neighboring houses or from prices listed on websites like Zillow and homes.com. They also said the letters from Tyler included inaccuracies about their properties, including errors about square footage and number of rooms and misclassifying improvements.

Tyler Technologies is doing the reassessments for all three counties, which are all on varying schedules. Kent County is already done with assessments and the changes have been reflected in the tax bills. Sussex County began mailing tentative property values last month.

The process has raised outrage, confusion and frustration among some property owners worried their taxes will go up next year because of steep rises in their tentative property value assessments.

Michael McFarlane, manager of Southern Appraisal Region and Consulting Services with Tyler Technologies, said he understands people’s frustration.

“It’s the first time a reassessment has occurred within New Castle County since 1983 and there’s a lot of information about the process that is foreign to a lot of taxpayers in New Castle County,” he said. “Tyler and the county are committed to continuing to provide any and all information that would help the taxpayers better understand the process and avenues of relief that they have.”

Westergren’s calculator said while the mailed notices initially showed a 511% countywide increase, this has been revised down to 379% based on ongoing reviews. McFarlane said that while he believed the number had been revised downward, he could not give a specific percentage. A request for comment to the county did not receive an immediate response.

Property owners have the option to informally appeal the tentative assessed values through Tyler. The company’s call center is open through Dec. 20 for people to make an appointment to appeal the tentative assessed value, over the phone or in person.

McFarlane said as of Dec. 9, there have been 8,500 informal hearings scheduled.  The company and New Castle County have outlined the process and the kinds of documentation they accept as evidence.

Those who are still unhappy after going through the initial reviews or who miss that informal appeal process can appeal to the county by March 14.