Why Should Delaware Care?
Following the release of reassessment data last month, misinformation is growing online around who benefits from the process and why. A review of data has shown no discernible issues around the assessments of elected officials’ properties.
The outcry over Delaware’s first comprehensive property reassessment in decades has also given fuel to false conspiracy theories, particularly that elected officials – and therefore state Democratic leaders – got tax breaks.
TikTok videos, Facebook posts and NextDoor conversations promoting the misinformation have been shared, viewed and commented on widely by audiences across the state, extending their reach.
A comprehensive review of all primary residences for elected statewide and county officials in Delaware undertaken by Spotlight Delaware – using deed, parcel, tax and election records – found that the majority of public officials will see tax increases though.
A handful of prominent state leaders, including Gov. Matt Meyer, former President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester and U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride, will see cuts to their tax bills, but they also saw smaller increases in their assessed property value.
Biden’s Greenville-area home is worth an assessed $2.19 million, but it only saw a 316% appreciation from its already high pre-assessed value compared to the average of 477% on homes across New Castle County.
Meanwhile, McBride and Blunt Rochester’s condos only saw appreciations of 313% and 190%, respectively, while Meyer’s brownstone row home in Wilmington appreciated 205%. The governor’s property is assessed nearly the same as his neighboring row homes.
Meyer’s office declined to discuss his personal property tax bill.
Other statewide officials, including U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay and Wilmington Mayor John Carney, will all see tax bill increases of $1,000 or more this year.
And while former President Biden’s Wilmington-area home is seeing a cut, his Rehoboth Beach-area home will see an increase of nearly $3,600.
What about county officials?
New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry, who took office after the reassessment had been completed, will see a tax cut of about $1,600, due primarily because his suburban Wilmington home only appreciating about 240%. His assessment is actually higher than most neighboring homes.
Henry’s office declined to discuss his personal property tax bill.
Meanwhile, three members of the New Castle County Council will see tax cuts – Monique Williams-John, Dee Durham and Janet Kilpatrick – but the other 10 members will see increases.
Councilman David Carter, whose 40-acre Townsend homestead saw a $1,700 increase on its property taxes, said the increases prove the assessment process was fair.
“I see crazy stuff being posted online that this official had this decrease. This one had that decrease. Well they sure as hell didn’t look at mine, because my bill went up quite a bit and so are others on this council,” he said in public comments during a July 22 council meeting.
In Kent County, two of seven Levy Court commissioners – Terry Pepper and Paul Hertz – saw decreases on their 2025 bills compared to 2023 — the county adjusted its rates last year after completing its reassessment early — while the others saw increases ranging from about $10 to up to $860.
Finally, in Sussex County, only new Republican County Councilman Matt Lloyd saw an increase in his bill, while the four other council members, including three Republicans and one Democrat, saw decreases.
What about state legislators?
In the Delaware General Assembly, 38 out of 61 sitting legislators will see tax increases ranging from about $100 up to more than $1,900.
The statehouse legislator who will see the biggest hike in his property tax bill is Wilmington Democratic Rep. Nnamdi Chukwoucha.
Of the 22 legislators who will see tax decreases, 13 are Republicans who primarily represent areas of Kent County or western Sussex County where property values are lower overall.
The statehouse legislator who will see the biggest cut in his property tax bill – at about $1,200 – is Wilmington State Sen. Ray Seigfried.
That’s primarily due to a zeroing out of Seigfried’s land value as a resident of Arden. Homeowners in the historic village near the Pennsylvania border don’t own their land, but rather have land leases through a communal trust.
House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown told Spotlight Delaware in a statement that, “It’s unfortunate, but not surprising, that some people are once again choosing to spread conspiracy theories and misinformation online purely for political gain.”
“Property tax reassessments and school taxes are confusing topics, and the recent changes in both are overwhelming. To take advantage of Delawareans’ fear, confusion, and lack of access to clear answers is frankly disgusting and harmful,” she said. “These are issues that involve school districts, our county governments, and third party contractors, and what we need to be focused on right now is working with them to determine how we can best educate the public on the issues at hand, how we can provide short and long-term relief to residents who saw their bills skyrocket, and how we can ensure that nothing like this happens again, without sacrificing essential school and local government funding streams.”
Minor-Brown, whose tax bill rose by nearly $900 at her New Castle-area home, said, “My colleagues and I gain nothing from this situation, nor do we want to. Just like with any other issue taken on by the General Assembly, our goal is to find a solution that allows for every Delawarean to have the opportunity to live in safety and comfort.”
Editor’s Note: This story originally reported that New Castle County Councilman Dave Carter had the largest property tax bill increase of any public official analyzed, but his 2025 tax bill from the county contained errors that have since been fixed. He ranks among the top officials, but did not see the largest increase.
