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Committee debates which tax‑exempt parcels could be subject to a fire fee
Summary
Members reviewed a county spreadsheet of tax‑exempt parcel categories and debated whether veterans groups, fraternal organizations, school districts and other exempt parcels should be excluded or included when designing a potential fire fee; legal limits and billing complexity were prominent concerns.
The New Castle County Strategic Plan Committee on Sept. 28 examined a spreadsheet detailing parcel exemptions and spent substantial time discussing which exempt properties—if any—could be included in a future fire fee.
Staff explained the dataset lists parcels and exemption types (senior credits, veterans disability credits, disability exemptions, general exemptions, federal/state government parcels, Delaware Housing Authority, Port of Wilmington, universities, school districts, religious organizations, charitable organizations, volunteer fire company parcels and civic/maintenance corporations).
Committee members raised practical and legal concerns. Several cautioned that school‑district and some state exemptions are governed by state law and cannot be changed by county action alone. Staff warned that creating a separate exemption list different from the county’s current records would require additional legal review and would force changes to the county billing system.
Dave Del Grande reiterated an earlier leadership discussion about distribution formulas and fairness across companies, and members emphasized they did not want exemption review to delay other funding steps. One attendee urged sticking with existing county and state exemption definitions to avoid long legal and administrative delays.
Members also flagged particular categories for closer review—Riverfront Development Corporation, certain private open‑space parcels, and fraternal organizations—and asked staff to return with more detailed, company‑level breakdowns to identify any "low‑hanging fruit" that could be addressed quickly.
The committee did not adopt any new rules on exemptions; the conversation concluded with direction for staff to provide more granular parcel data and for the committee to set funding priorities at its next meeting.
