New Castle County details 2024 reassessment timeline as residents and council press for fixes

New Castle County Finance Director Jill Florey gave council members a step-by-step account of the county's 2024 property reassessment on July 22, saying the county and contractor Tyler Technologies completed mailings, an informal-then-formal appeal process and are preparing referee hearings next month.

Florey said the county and assessor data were sent to local jurisdictions in February 2025, 11,354 informal appeals were held with Tyler Technologies, and 5,208 formal appeals were logged for the Board of Assessment Review process. She said staff and outside counsel trained referees July 18–21 and that the first formal hearing notices will be mailed next week; hearings require 30 days' notice and are expected to begin in August with in-person and online accommodations.

The presentation included figures used to plan risk for the county budget: she told council that known residential assessed-value “at risk” was about $359 million and that larger pools of value remained uncertain (the presentation cited roughly $751 million residential and about $2.7 billion nonresidential labeled as at-risk in appeal filings). Florey said the administration had set separate tax rates for residential (15.75¢) and nonresidential (23.8¢) property to limit an automatic shift in burden after reassessment.

Assessment staff member Mike McFarland explained the three common valuation approaches and said income-capitalization methods are commonly used for investment-grade nonresidential property; he told council that vacancy and market changes (including remote work) have reduced values for some downtown commercial parcels, shifting more of the county tax burden to residential parcels.

Council members pressed for additional clarifications and next steps. Councilman Cartier asked how the split rates changed the overall burden; Florey said residential now carries roughly 69% of the county tax burden after the bifurcated rate was set. Councilman Koneko and others emphasized that only a small share of parcels had appeals (roughly 2–3% of parcels) but warned the appeals process and remaining uncertainty could affect budgeting.

Public commenters urged an independent audit of the Tyler Technologies work and more transparency. Patricia Wilhauer, a member of Wilmington City Council, asked the county to “audit the numbers you got from Tyler Technologies” and to correct errors that she said under-assessed some high-value properties while over-assessing long-time homeowners. Other speakers described specific examples of parcels they said were incorrectly valued and urged improved outreach and easier appeal support for residents, particularly seniors and low-income households.

Council members suggested short- and longer-term policy options for relief, including phased payment plans or tax deferrals for vulnerable households and possible rate adjustments next year. Councilman Carter said he was drafting ideas (including senior deferral models and homestead-type relief) and asked finance staff for data to evaluate options.

Next steps announced during the meeting: county staff will mail referee hearing notices (30 days' notice), hold referee hearings starting in August, and forward referee recommendations to the Board of Assessment Review. Staff emphasized the formal appeal process remains available to property owners who want to challenge an assessment.

Ending: Florey and assessment staff urged homeowners with questions to use the county's appeal resources and noted the county had already posted the Tyler report and the data feed used for reassessment online for public review.