Why Should Delaware Care?
Government works best when its citizens are knowledgeable and engaged. Delaware’s government has scores of commissions, working groups, agencies and legislative committees. All must hold meetings that are open to the public. Below we highlight a few of those meetings that are happening this week.
Below are some of the most important or interesting public meetings happening around the state this week.
- Senate to reconvene to change corporate tax code (Statewide)
- Property tax legislative committee meetings resume (Statewide)
- Delmarva Power moves toward natural gas rate increase (Statewide)
- New Castle County Council to consider data center regulations (New Castle)
- Sussex County Council to consider loosening marijuana regulations (Sussex)
Next steps toward decoupling
The Senate will reconvene for another session Wednesday afternoon to consider a bill that would undo the state’s portion of tax savings for companies that went into effect earlier this year after the passage of the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Because Delaware income taxes generally piggyback on the IRS’s system, federal changes to the tax code also impact state income taxes.
But Gov. Matt Meyer called on the legislature last month to “decouple” certain provisions of the state’s tax code from the federal government’s, after a group of financial analysts projected that the corporate tax cuts would cost the state millions of dollars in revenue in coming years.
The Senate’s upcoming session comes after the House of Representatives, despite Republican opposition, passed the bill last week.
📍 The Senate will convene at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Legislative Hall in Dover. The extraordinary session also will be livestreamed here.
Property tax committee back in action
Before the full Senate convenes on Wednesday afternoon, the legislature’s joint committee investigating the impacts of Delaware’s first-in-40-year property reassessment will meet at 9:30 a.m.
Committee members will once again hear from New Castle County representatives, this time without the shadow of a lawsuit hanging over the proceedings.
When the committee convened its first meeting in September, New Castle County leaders were in the middle of a legal battle with a coalition of landlords and hotel owners who had sued over the implementation of different tax rates for commercial and residential properties.
After expedited hearings and appeals that made it all the way to the Delaware Supreme Court, that lawsuit was struck down. And after months of delays, updated property tax bills for New Castle County residents are finally slated to go out this week.
After Wednesday’s hearing, the committee is scheduled to meet twice more before the end of the year.
📍 The joint legislative committee will convene at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Legislative Hall in Dover. The hearing also will be livestreamed here.
NCCo to consider scaled back data center rules
After a testy debate earlier this month, New Castle County Council will consider a pared down version of an ordinance that would regulate large scale data centers wishing to come to northern Delaware.
Originally, the proposed regulations included a retroactivity provision that could be applied to the Delaware City facility, dubbed Project Washington, that is already awaiting county approval.
But after several council members voiced their opposition to retroactivity at a committee meeting earlier this month, that provision has been removed from the ordinance text.
Councilman Dave Carter, who wrote the ordinance, said at that committee meeting he’d be open to compromise.
If opponents would support his ordinance to regulate data centers without applying the rules to pending plans, he would agree to remove the retroactivity component.
“If it’s gonna get me a couple of votes,” he said, “it’s gone.”
📍 The New Castle County Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday inside its chambers located at 800 N. French St. in Wilmington. For additional details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Sussex to hear from residents on weed regulations
Sussex County Council will hear from residents about a proposed ordinance that would loosen the county’s restrictions on marijuana dispensaries.
Currently, dispensaries are prohibited within 3 miles of any city or town limit. If passed, the ordinance would limit that distance to half a mile.
Its consideration of loosening restrictions comes as municipalities across southern Delaware grapple with how best to regulate recreational marijuana.
Delaware’s southernmost county currently has some of the tightest restrictions in the state about where dispensaries can be located. A majority of towns in Sussex County also have banned recreational marijuana sales.
📍 The Sussex County Council will hold its public hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday inside its chambers located at 2 The Circle, in Georgetown. For additional details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Delmarva to seek amended natural gas rate hike
Delaware energy regulators, after convening multiple public hearings last week, will meet on Wednesday to consider an amended natural gas rate increase submitted by Delmarva Power.
The utility company, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp., has reached a proposed settlement with state energy regulators to increase its Delaware gas revenue by about $29.5 million annually – a $15.5 million decrease from its original ask, according to state documents.
Wednesday’s meeting of the Public Service Commission will not be the only time the regulatory agency considers the rate hike, but it will begin a consideration process that will extend into mid-December, at least.
In an investor report, Exelon said the rate increase is needed to inspect and maintain gas mains and valves; to replace old cast iron pipes with polyethylene pipes, and to upgrade a liquefied natural gas plant.
📍 The Delaware Public Service Commission will meet from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday inside its hearing room located at 861 Silver Lake Blvd. in Dover. For additional details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
