UPDATE: Court of Chancery Ruling Upholds Proposed Two-Tier System of Property Taxation
October 30, 2025/
UPDATE: The Delaware Chancery Court’s decision was to uphold the proposed two-tier system of property taxation.
Additional Information and Statements: from Legislative Hall:
Chancery Upholds House Bill 242
In response to the Court of Chancery opinion issued Thursday afternoon, Senate President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola, House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown, Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, House Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn Harris, Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman, and House Majority Whip Ed Osienski issued the following joint statement:
“We thank Vice Chancellor Will for her thorough examination of House Bill 242 and thoughtful opinion that upholds all the terms of this legislation.
As legislative leaders, it is our obligation to work swiftly on behalf of the people of Delaware — but even in doing so, we believed that the legislative solutions we put forward during the August 12 special session were sound, responsive, and ultimately going to provide the greatest immediate relief to the households that were disproportionately burdened by a shift in valuations from non-residential to residential properties.
Starting immediately, New Castle County will be able to reissue new property tax bills with reduced school tax rates for the majority of New Castle County residents. This means that taxpayers will finally have clarity on their tax bills due on November 30.
But even with today’s victory, our work is not done. Now that the Vice Chancellor has issued her decision, we will work quickly to announce the next hearings for the bipartisan special committee to continue its work investigating and improving Delaware’s reassessment processes. Delaware taxpayers deserve fairness, transparency, and reliability — and we will deliver on that.”
Original Post:
The bipartisan Special Committees formed by the Senate and House Democratic leadership to investigate Delaware’s recent statewide property reassessment are finalizing their hearing schedule as Delawareans await a Court of Chancery ruling on the constitutionality of recent tax relief efforts. While the committees will not meet next Tuesday, November 4th as had been previously scheduled, leadership is working to schedule as many as three additional hearings this fall. A ruling is anticipated very soon.