| HB 243 | Committee | K. Williams | This Act authorizes school districts to set different tax rates for residential and non-residential property. The non-residential rate must be at least as great as the residential rate and may be no more than twice the residential rate. The school district must set both rates so that it is not realizing any more revenue than it was authorized to collect by law if it were using a single tax rate.
This Act also makes a change to the additional amount a school board may approve to the tax rate to account for delinquencies and costs of collection. Under current law a school board is required to add 10% to its authorized tax rate for delinquencies and costs of collection. This Act allows, but does not require, a school board to add up to 10% to its tax rate for delinquencies and costs of collection.
Technical corrections are also made to align these sections with the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL TAXES. |
| HB 246 | Committee | Shupe | This Act limits the 10% increase in school property tax revenue to 2% per year for 5 years after a general reassessment. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LIMITATION ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS' TAX RATE AFTER GENERAL REASSESSMENT. |
| HB 245 | Committee | Michael Smith | This Act removes the up to 10% increase in school property taxes allowed after reassessment This Act takes effect July 1, 2025, and applies to all public school tax rates after July 1, 2025. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LIMITATION ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS' TAX RATE AFTER GENERAL REASSESSMENT. |
| HR 18 | Committee | S. Moore | This Resolution requests that each of the counties in this State study, respectively, the viability of implementing a property tax freeze for Delaware residents who are seniors and meet household income thresholds that each county establishes. This Resolution includes a model for the counties to consider in creating property tax freezes. | REQUESTING THAT NEW CASTLE COUNTY, KENT COUNTY, AND SUSSEX COUNTY EACH STUDY, RESPECTIVELY, THE VIABILITY OF IMPLEMENTING A PROPERTY TAX FREEZE FOR DELAWARE RESIDENTS WHO ARE SENIORS. |
| HCR 78 | Committee | Wilson-Anton | This Concurrent Resolution directs the Public Education Funding Commission (Commission) to make findings and recommendations to achieve the equitable collection and distribution of property tax revenue to support the needs of public schools, and submit a report with the recommendations no later than January 1, 2026.
This Concurrent Resolution provides that the House and Senate Education committees will hold a joint meeting in January 2026 where the Commission will present for discussion the recommendations that are due October 1, 2025, and from this Concurrent Resolution. | DIRECTING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING COMMISSION TO SUBMIT A REPORT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE EQUITABLE COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY TAX REVENUE IN DELAWARE. |
| HB 249 | Committee | Wilson-Anton | This Act requires counties to void all tax bills already issued to taxpayers in the county for the 2025-2026 tax year and to reissue property and school tax bills for the 2025-2026 tax year using the previously assessed value of the real property for all property subject to county taxation under Part V of Title 9 and all property subject to the local school tax under Chapter 19 of Title 14. This requirement does not apply to tax bills for new construction completed during the 2025-2026 tax year.
Within 10 days of enactment of this Act, school districts must deliver a new tax collection warrant to the county calculated using the previously assessed value of the real property for school tax, so tax bills for the 2025-2026 tax year can be reissued.
The deadline for payment of the reissued tax bills is extended to October 30, 2025, and counties must refund or credit overpayments of taxes for the 2025-2026 tax year to taxpayers who submit payment in accordance with previous tax bill.
A school district may request and borrow from State Division I funds in the event of a cash flow shortfall of local school funds due to the extension of the deadline for tax payments for the 2026 fiscal year. | AN ACT RELATING TO TAXES IN THE 2025-2026 TAX YEAR. |
| HB 247 | Committee | Wilson-Anton | This Act is a short-term response to the recent tax reassessment that protects homeowners, who have received substantially increased property and school tax bills for the 2025-2026 tax year, from legal action while the General Assembly and New Castle County explore long-term solutions.
Many Delaware homeowners have raised several troubling questions and concerns about the property reassessment process. After the reassessment, the tax burden has drastically shifted to homeowners, which has hit vulnerable groups the hardest, including seniors, low-income families, and long-term residents.
This Act requires the tax collecting authority for New Castle County (“County”) to offer payment plans to all taxpayers to pay county property and school taxes assessed to residential properties for the 2025-2026 tax year. After offering the payment plan, the County must give a taxpayer at least 30 days from the date of the offer to enter into the payment plan.
If a taxpayer enters into a payment plan and makes payments in compliance with the payment plan, the County may not collect the taxes owed out of the taxpayer’s real or personal property, including by filing a civil action to collect the taxes or by seizing or selling the taxpayer’s property. Additionally, the County may not charge fees, penalties, or interest on taxes owed by taxpayers who make payments in compliance with the payment plan.
This Act sunsets on December 31, 2026, unless otherwise provided by a subsequent Act of the General Assembly. But the prohibitions on collecting taxes out of the taxpayer’s real or personal property and on charging fees, penalties, or interest on taxes continue to apply to payment plans that extend on or beyond December 31, 2026, so long as the taxpayer remain in compliance with the payment plan. | AN ACT RELATING TO THE COLLECTION OF TAXES FOR REAL PROPERTY IN THE 2025-2026 TAX YEAR. |
| HJR 8 | Committee | Wilson-Anton | This Resolution directs the Director of the Office of State Planning Coordination, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary of Finance, the Controller General, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of the Department of Technology and Information to provide the Governor and the General Assembly with recommendations on how the State can better support future property tax reassessments, drawing upon recommendations made in the 2008 report resulting from HJR 22 and best practices from neighboring and similar states to Delaware. | DIRECTING THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF STATE PLANNING COORDINATION, THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, THE SECRETARY OF FINANCE, THE CONTROLLER GENERAL, THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION, AND THE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE STATEWIDE UNIFORM REASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY AND TO PROVIDE A REPORT OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNOR AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. |
| HB 248 | Committee | Wilson-Anton | This Act allows all 3 counties to accept tax payments on a quarterly or monthly basis. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TAX PAYMENTS. |
| HB 244 | Committee | K. Williams | Section 1 of this Act requires modifications to exemptions from county taxation to reasonably reflect changes in property value and inflation. This Act also requires New Castle County to use the same eligibility criteria and calculation formula for exemption from school taxes that it used for county taxes as of June 1, 2025.
Section 2 of this Act provides that upon passage of House Bill No. 242 of the 153rd General Assembly, the expanded school tax exemption will be applied during the 2025-2026 tax year in any New Castle County School district that reissues its tax warrant in accordance with House Bill No. 242. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LOCAL SCHOOL TAXES. |
