New Castle County Council approves five measures, including committee rule change and refunds

The New Castle County Council voted unanimously to approve four refund resolutions and a procedural change affecting committee leadership and enacted an ordinance updating council committee co-chair rules.

The actions were taken during the council’s regular meeting, where roll calls recorded 13 yes votes on each item and no recorded no votes or abstentions.

Councilman Paul Cartier, who handled several of the refund items, said for the record that refunds exceeding $20,000 must be approved by county council and that the finance department had reviewed the requests. The council then approved the resolutions by roll call.

In total the council approved: Resolution R25-043, approving a refund for tax parcel 06064.00241; R25-044, approving a refund for parcel 07034.20341; R25-045, approving a refund for parcel 10006.00032; and R25-046, approving a refund for parcel 11022.00015. Each resolution passed with a roll call of 13 yes votes.

Separately, the council approved Resolution R25-047, amending New Castle County Council procedural Rule 5 concerning county council committee co-chairs. Councilman Smiley presented the measure and said it followed discussion at the finance committee.

The council also considered and adopted Ordinance 25-019, which amends New Castle County Code Chapter 2 (Administration), section 2.020.11 on county council committee co-chairs; the ordinance passed on a 13–0 roll call.

Several other ordinances were introduced for consideration at a future meeting. Those introductions included: Ordinance 25-021 to amend the grants budget to appropriate $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) via the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services for a wastewater grant (DHSS 2025) to the Department of Public Works (details not specified in the meeting); Ordinance 25-022 to amend the FY2025 capital program and appropriate $29,600 from the Delaware Department of Transportation’s Community Transportation Fund for the Department of Public Works Greenway Systems Capital Project (details not specified); Ordinance 25-023 to provide for installation of LED street lights in the Overlook at Bayberry subdivision and to create a light tax (details not specified); and Ordinance 25-024 to amend the grants budget to appropriate interest income ($6,390.25) and program income ($163,310.29) to the FY2024 HOME Investment Partnerships Program administered by the Department of Community Services, Division of Community Development and Housing (details not specified).

Votes at a glance

- Resolution R25-043 (refund of duplicate tax payment, parcel 06064.00241): approved, roll call 13 yes - Resolution R25-044 (refund of tax payment and sewer fees paid in error, parcel 07034.20341): approved, roll call 13 yes - Resolution R25-045 (refund of duplicate tax payment, parcel 10006.00032): approved, roll call 13 yes - Resolution R25-046 (refund of duplicate tax payment, parcel 11022.00015): approved, roll call 13 yes - Resolution R25-047 (amend procedural Rule 5 on committee co-chairs): approved, roll call 13 yes - Ordinance 25-019 (amend County Code Chapter 2.020.11 on committee co-chairs): approved, roll call 13 yes

Introduced (no action taken; details not specified at meeting): Ordinances 25-021, 25-022, 25-023, 25-024.

The council meeting transcript records the roll-call tallies for the passed items and shows no recorded public objections during the roll calls for those measures. Further hearings or committee recommendations will be required for the introduced ordinances before they return for final action.