County offers heads-up to homeowners as property tax bills are calculated

Some residents could see a sharp incease in property taxes, driven by school districts  that account for the bulk of property taxes. The impact will more likely be felt by those who have paid off the homes. Those with mortgages and escrow accounts would see monthly increases in their payment that might not be as painful as the tax bill. 

Over the weekend, tax amounts were uploaded onto New Castle County’s Parcel Search website. It will be followed by the mailing of tax bills.

The county is likely to take the blame for higher tax bills, since it processes school taxes  The county's property tax rate did not go up, but some school districts have raised property taxes by the 10% maximum allowed under state law.

Tax rates have been adjusted after the property reassessment process completed earlier this year.  It was the first time in over 40 years New Castle County has undergone this process.

The process is said to be revenue neutral with one-third of properties seeing higher taxes and the other third seeing no change. Few taxpayers will see lower taxes, due to increases in school and municipal taxes.

The county extended the appeals process to allow residents more time to ensure everyone had a fair chance to challenge their assessments. Since then, the county has undergone a lengthy process to manage appeals and prepare to conduct hearings. 

Total tax amounts can be viewed online on the County’s Parcel Search website (www3.newcastlede.gov/parcel.search/).

Homeowners and businesses can  search using the property’s Street Number and Street Name (omitting street suffixes like “Road,” “Lane, “Avenue,” etc.). If the search doesn’t return any results, the user can  consult the Parcel Search instructions on the website’s homepage for additional search tips. 

The taxes currently listed online only list total amounts, but the tax bills sent in the mail will show a more detailed breakdown. Tax bills will be mailed out the week of July 21st and also be uploaded to Parcel Search at the same time. The total amounts listed online include any tax exemptions that have been approved. 

New Castle County has committed that the total taxes collected in fiscal year 2026 will not exceed the amount of total taxes collected in fiscal year 2025, not including any increases due to new construction. Tax reassessment has been revenue neutral for New Castle County. This year, the county has approved the use of separate tax rates for residential and non-residential property. The rates are below: 

• Residential Rate - 0.1575 per $100 in assessed property value (down from 0.8054)
• Non-Residential Rate - 0.2380 per $100 in assessed property value (down from 0.8054)

These rates are for properties in unincorporated areas. Incorporated areas have lower county tax rates and additional property taxes assessed by the municipality. Recently, the City of New Castle announced a 50% increase in its property taxes.

The property taxes collected by the county are separate from the taxes collected by local school districts.  The local school district tax rates are set by each school district.  

Questions about School District taxes should be directed to local districts. The contact information for each district is below: 

As noted above, school districts are allowed a maximum  10% tax increase. Two  districts, Appoquinamink  and Christiana went the 10% route with taxes increasing in other districts that approved previous tax increase referendums. 

School information numbers

• Brandywine School District, 302-793-5000 
• Red Clay Consolidated School District, 302-552-3725
• Christina School District, 302-552-2600
• Colonial School District, 302-323-2700
• Appoquinimink School District, 376-4120
• Smyrna School District, 302-653-8585 
• NCC Vocational Technical School District, 302-995-8020 
• Polytech School District, 302-697-2170 

If a property owner not file an appeal with the New Castle County Board of Assessment Review by March 31, 2025, they  may not challenge your property’s assessment for the July 2025 annual tax bill.  

However, you may file an appeal of the property’s assessment in future years by submitting the appropriate appeal form to the county by March 14th of each year.  

The county received over 5,200 appeals and processing each appeal has been a time-consuming undertaking, a release stated.

Appeal reviews are currently underway, and formal hearings will begin being scheduled this month. Completion of this process is expected to take several months. 

If the appeal of your assessment is not resolved by the September 30, 2025 deadline for paying your tax bill, there are a few options. 

• You may pay the tax due on your property’s entire assessment, and if your assessment appeal reduces the assessed value of your property, your tax overpayment will be credited to your account and will offset any subsequent tax or sewer service obligation billed on your property. You will be credited with interest on the overpayment at the rate of 1% per year (beginning on the date which New Castle County received your tax payment). 
• If you choose not to pay any of the tax due, you will be assessed a penalty of 6% of the charge, plus an additional 1% penalty on the first of every month thereafter. If your appeal is successful, the penalty associated with the amount of the reduction will be removed. However, you will have to pay the accrued penalty amount based on your property’s revised assessed value.
• You may pay the tax due on the portion of your property’s assessment that you do not dispute. If your appeal reduces the assessed value to that value, there will be no penalties and no credit. If you need assistance in determining the amount to pay associated with the undisputed value, please contact the Treasury Division at 302-395-5340 or Treasury@newcastlede.gov.