DOVER, Del.- A decision in Delaware's Court of Chancery Court last week may result in the state's three counties being forced to reassess properties for the first time in decades.
In a 150-page decision Friday, the Chancery Court judge ruled that the county tax assessment schemes violate a state law requiring that all property be assessed at “its true value in money.” The Delaware Supreme Court has held that a property’s true value in money is the same as its present fair market value.
But while the law requires that property be assessed at fair market value, it does not require that counties conduct reassessments on any particular schedule. As a result, Kent County in central Delaware last reassessed property values in 1987, while northern New Castle County’s current assessment dates to 1983. Sussex County, home to million-dollar beach homes in southern Delaware, last reassessed property values in 1974.
In addition to finding that the current tax assessment practices violate the law, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster ruled that the counties also are violating a provision in Delaware’s constitution that requires property owners to be taxed in a uniform manner.