CAMDEN, DE- With the 2026 fiscal year approaching, business owners and residents in Camden are opposing the town’s proposed $3.6 million budget, which includes steep property tax increases.
The proposal, introduced in early May, would raise residential property taxes by 46%, increasing collections from just over $795,000 to more than $1.16 million.
Commercial property taxes would jump even larger—87%—from $595,000 to about $1.12 million.
Those figures have Justin King, a former Camden mayor and current owner of King Family Companies, sounding the alarm.
“Obviously, an 87% increase in an economy that we're in right now, and with all that uncertainty, is not the correct way to put that burden on the community and the businesses."
King said he expected a tax hike this fiscal year, but not this large, especially for commercial property owners.
“To pass an 87% increase with a two-month notice—that, to me, is not transparent."
With inflation still high and economic uncertainty continuing to affect the community, King said the proposal's timing couldn’t be worse.
King believes raising taxes, particularly this suddenly, will hurt those already struggling.
“We can't continue to tax, tax, tax our way out of things because it's impacting lives—not just the businesses, but actual families."
Camden Mayor Larry Dougherty acknowledged that the proposed increases are significant.
However, since the town hasn’t raised taxes since 2011, Dougherty says the increase is both necessary and long overdue.
“We need something that is permanent and that we can rely on next year, in the year after and the year after that. And that basically is real estate, tax."
Dougherty added that the roughly $2 million in additional funds from residential and commercial property taxes is critical to maintaining essential town services, including the police department.
“We're at the point that the town just needs the money to survive, to provide the basic services that residents want."
In response to the proposal, King and other local business leaders told WBOC they are working to form a business group that would engage with the town, be represented by legal counsel, and collaborate on solutions to the proposed budget.
One option King hopes to present is phasing in the tax increase over two or three years, rather than implementing it all at once.
Mayor Dougherty told WBOC he would be open to that conversation, but said the town needs the money now and cannot afford to delay action further.
The proposed budget's second and final reading is scheduled for June 2. If passed, the new tax rates would take effect July 1.