Mayor disappointed with county’s stance on reassessment

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Purzycki
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Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki expressed disappointment with the New Castle County government’s response to his call for a complete, countywide property tax reassessment.

The city has asked a Chancery Court judge to allow the city to join a lawsuit that could force the County government to conduct the first property tax reassessment in nearly 40 years.

NCC Executive Matt Meyer said late Tuesday that the city should conduct its own reassessment.

In response the Mayor said, “No one can defend 36 years without ensuring fundamental tax fairness. The county executive fails to note that county taxes and school taxes are required by law to use county assessments. A city reassessment, therefore, would apply only to city taxes, leaving city residents unfairly assessed on both their county property and school taxes, negatively affecting each of the school districts serving Wilmington’s children. Since it is only a matter of time before a court orders the county to reassess, telling the city that it should conduct its own, would result in two separate reassessment exercises for which taxpayers should be rightly furious.”

Purzycki  said the county is ignoring a “self-admitted unfairness in its property assessments to all county residents, including those within the city, and especially to the local school systems.

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He said the Delaware General Assembly long ago established a public policy that gives municipalities the statutory right to utilize the county’s assessment list. The mayor added that Wilmington should have every right to do this.

 

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