Why Should Delaware Care?
Each year, Delaware’s school districts vote to approve a school tax rate and typically collect revenues in the fall. But the fallout from Delaware’s first property reassessment in 40 years delayed school districts’ ability to set a tax rate in July, causing New Castle County districts to vote on their tax rates this month.
All five New Castle County school districts announced in recent weeks that they will raise local taxes later this year.
During October board meetings, the Appoquinimink, Brandywine, Christina, and Colonial school districts all said tax hikes are necessary because of an increasing number of special education students in their schools, and the higher costs associated with meeting their needs.
Red Clay said its increase results from the final phase of a tax referendum passed in 2024.
For property owners, it can mean more than a hundred dollars more in annual tax payments.
At the Brandywine School District, the average property owner will pay $150 more. And at Christina, it will be a nearly $270 bump for the average property owner.
The tax rate announcements come three months after several districts publicly stated they would need to increase school taxes. At the time they did not announce the exact amounts because of delays caused by the county’s recent property reassessment controversy.
Before calculating new tax bills, the districts had to wait for New Castle County to complete a quality control review of commercial property assessments in northern Delaware. On Thursday, the county announced that the review was complete and published a report that found numerous errors in the assessment of a sample of commercial properties.
In recent weeks, the county sent school districts updated information about their tax bases, allowing school boards to vote on new rates during October meetings.
New property tax bills will be issued in November, and residents will have until Dec. 31 to pay. In typical years, school districts collect taxes early in the fall.
Increased student needs, inflation driving costs
During a school board meeting earlier this month, Brandywine Chief Financial Officer Daniel McCoy told members that the district struggled to find staff for special education classrooms.
McCoy said the district has used contractors to fill vacancies in special education classrooms at a cost of upwards of $100,000 per student, each year.
At the same time, McCoy said the district this year gained 93 special education students, more than half of which had transferred from other states. Those students will need 10 additional classrooms, and each classroom will need — at minimum — a special education teacher and paraprofessional.
The component of property taxes that pay for special education — called the tuition tax — is set by local school boards, and does not require votes by residents, like a broader tax referendum would.
The three other categories that make up a district’s property tax are operating costs that are not covered by the state, debt services that pay for building construction and renovations, and local funding to match state-funded programs such as technology or extracurriculars.
How much will school taxes go up?
The Appoquinimink School District announced during its October meeting that an average homeowner can expect to see an increase of $109 in the school district portion of their property tax bill this year.
Appoquinimink Superintendent Matthew Burrows told board members that the bulk of the new money is needed for internal program costs for special education students, such as teachers, paraprofessionals, and other related service professionals.
The Colonial School District cited similar costs for its increase, amounting to roughly $0.058 per $100 of assessed value. District officials did not disclose the amount the average homeowner would pay.
And the Red Clay Consolidated district officials announced that its previously passed tax referendum would boost school property taxes by 1.31%
Residents in Christina will likely see the highest average annual increase at $268.95.
During the district’s recent board meeting, Christina Chief Financial Officer Bob Vacca said many residents do not realize the district’s taxes are higher because of the amount it pays to charter and choice schools.
Delaware’s public education funding currently follows what officials call a unit-count system, which distributes money to districts based on the number of students enrolled.
When students attend charter schools rather than their local district school, school district leaders are obligated to pass tax revenues on to the charter school to cover their costs. That allocation is based on the number of students enrolled in the charter school.
Vacca also said the Christina School District has more students using school choice to go to other schools than it takes students in.
“We are using a methodology where we raise taxes for 7,000 students in nine other schools,” he said.
