Gov. Meyer denies delaying reassessment data during 2024 campaign

On Tuesday, Republican and Democratic lawmakers criticized Gov. Matt Meyer after New Castle County’s top official testified that Meyer delayed the release of tentative property reassessment data until after the 2024 election.

On Friday, the governor’s office denied that claim, providing Spotlight Delaware with documents pulled from Meyer’s final years as New Castle County’s executive that it says shows the decision to push back the release of data came much earlier.

The documents show that the decision to release preliminary property valuations in November 2024 date back to at least December 2023. The county documents, which include project updates from contracted assessor Tyler Technologies, do not indicate who made the decision to release the valuations in mid-November, after the conclusion of the 2024 election.

On Saturday morning, the governor’s office further pointed to Tyler Technologies’ contract, which was signed in June 2021 by the New Castle County Council. The contract lays out two different potential timelines — the second of which roughly makes the timeline that ultimately occurred, with tentative valuation notices being sent in mid-November 2024.

Another timeline option that would have seen the process completed in 2023 was not chosen because Tyler Technologies was also working on Kent County’s reassessment and planned to complete that in 2024, according to the governor’s office.

When asked to discuss the records and Henry’s accusation, a spokesperson for Meyer’s office, Mila Myles, said only, “The records speak for themselves.”

The new property valuations, which were a result of the state’s first reassessment in several generations, significantly shifted the tax burden in New Castle County from commercial properties to residences. 

As a result, the tax bills for many northern Delaware homeowners rose significantly, with some more than doubling. That increase has sparked outrage across the county and subsequent investigations from lawmakers, including Tuesday’s special legislative hearing.

Meyer’s office did not respond Tuesday evening, following the claims made by New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry in that hearing.

He further declined to comment when approached in person by Spotlight Delaware on Wednesday during a public appearance in Milford for the swearing in of the state’s first veterans affairs secretary.

But on Friday morning, his office pointed to documents it says show a previously set project timeline as well as delays by Tyler Technologies in completing data collection work needed to send out the forms Meyer was accused of withholding. 

Tyler presentation dates back to 2023

Meyer announced his campaign for governor in June 2023. Three months later, former Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long entered the race and racked up significant endorsements before her campaign was hobbled by a campaign finance scandal.

A Dec. 12, 2023, presentation made by Tyler Technologies to the New Castle County Council’s Finance Committee includes a timeline with a planned release date of November 2024 for tentative assessed values.

Another document says that, as of August 2024, Tyler had not yet finished sending out preliminary data mailers to all New Castle County residents, which Henry said had gone out in May. The governor’s office said Henry was briefed on this August status update in October 2024, after winning the primary election for New Castle County executive.

Meyer’s office provided a copy of the briefing that it said was presented to Henry at that time, which notes that valuation notices were scheduled to be mailed on Nov. 14, 2024.

Notably, that briefing occurred before Henry had actually won the general election for county executive — although Democrats have successfully won the role for decades. Such transition reports would be common to keep a new administration up to speed with what is happening within a large government,

Henry’s spokeswoman, Natalie Criscenzo, confirmed he had been briefed on the assessment in October, but said in a written statement that none of the documents provided to Spotlight Delaware refute Henry’s comments from Tuesday. The decision by Meyer’s county administration that tentative valuations couldn’t go out until mid-November was made before December 2023, Criscenzo said.

“It is still our understanding that New Castle County’s assessment team recommended that tentative value notices go out sooner, and it is still our understanding that the prior administration said no to that recommendation and told the assessment office that tentative value notices couldn’t go out until mid-November,” she said. “We continue to gather information and records regarding these scheduling issues and communications relating to these matters. We appreciate that there may be facts that we have not uncovered yet, and we are continuing to work on them alongside the many high-priority issues related to this subject. We will continue to provide maximum transparency to the public.”

Spotlight Delaware reached out to Henry’s office on Saturday morning for a response on the latest revelation around Tyler Technologies’ contact language.

In a written statement, Meyer’s office said timelines for the reassessment were determined by Tyler’s needs and that the organization had “well-documented struggles” with staffing while working to complete the project. 

On Friday evening, Tyler Technologies issued a statement regarding the controversy, but stated only that, “We provided the reassessment data to New Castle County within the timeframe agreed to in the contract. Your best source for additional information regarding this would be someone with New Castle County.”