DOVER – In response to a proposal from House Republicans calling for New Castle County to redo reassessment and revert to old valuations and tax rates for the 2025-2026 tax year, House Democratic Leadership – including Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown, Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn Harris, and Majority Whip Ed Osienski – issued the following joint statement Friday:
“Almost three months ago, the General Assembly reconvened in a special session to begin addressing what went wrong in New Castle County’s property reassessment and to deliver property tax relief to residents.
“When we became aware of the problem, we did what Delaware leaders have always done. We immediately got to work meeting with stakeholders, working across the aisle, and passing legislation that brought fairness and stability to homeowners. Yesterday’s court ruling confirmed the legality of the measure passed during the special session and provided long-awaited clarity for counties, schools, and taxpayers alike.
“Yet even with that outcome, some in the Republican caucus are now calling for a “do-over” to throw out the reassessment and go back to 1980s-era valuations.
“Let’s be very clear about what that would mean for the state, for our schools, and for residents: rolling back to pre-2025 values would violate a court-approved settlement in the public school funding case, reopen Delaware to more litigation, and destabilize school district and county budgets already planned around the new rates. It would turn back the clock on decades of neglect and reinstate assessments that the courts already found fundamentally broken and unlawful.
“It’s also worth remembering that during the hours-long special session this summer, not a single New Castle County Republican voted against the split-rate plan that was ultimately adopted. The only rollback proposal, introduced by members of our caucus, was not pursued after legal and practical concerns made clear it wasn’t a viable option.
“This isn’t about fixing the process. It’s about politics. We all want this process to be better in the future, and we’re ready to work with Republicans to keep improving it. However, the responsible path forward is through continued oversight and improvement, not by reopening wounds and defying the courts.”
Delawareans expect and deserve stability, fairness, and leadership, not another round of DC-style chaos dressed up as a quick fix.”
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