Wilmington council splits residential and nonresidential mill rates as members press county on reassessment accuracy

The Wilmington City Council's Finance and Economic Development Committee on Monday voted to send a substitute ordinance to the full council that sets separate property tax rates for residential and nonresidential property for the 2025-26 fiscal year, while members pressed Newcastle County and contractor Tyler Technologies to address apparent inaccuracies in the recent reassessment.

Council Chair Michelle Harley said the committee would consider a substitute to ordinance 25-006 that splits the mill rate after the county assessment indicated possible systematic overpricing of lower-value residential properties.

The bifurcated rates in the substitute are 3.7413 mills for residential property and 5.8276 mills for nonresidential property. The administration told the committee the change is expected to leave overall citywide property tax billings unchanged compared with the prior projection, keeping total revenue at about $45,400,000 for fiscal year 2026.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephanie Merkler told the committee staff asked the law department whether…