ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION

• NEWS: Legislative Probe into Property Reassessment Process Begins
• NEWS VIDEO: Delaware's First Secretary of Veterans Affairs Takes Office
• NEWS: State Representative's Controversial Social Media Posts Cited as Offensive, Troubling

NEWS:

Legislative Probe into Property Reassessment Process Begins

At the State Capitol Building earlier this week, the first in a planned series of legislative meetings was held to investigate problems resulting from the property reassessment process.

After failing to conduct property reassessments for more than 40 years, Delaware's three counties were sued in 2020 by a coalition of groups, claiming that the lack of contemporary valuations had created disparities in public education funding. The local portion of school funds is generated through property tax revenue. 

The lawsuit was settled the following year, resulting in a mandate for the counties to reassess residential and commercial properties. Each county entered into a separate settlement agreement and handled its reassessment process independently, although all three selected the same private vendor, Tyler Technologies, to conduct the work.

While Kent and Sussex counties have completed their process, New Castle County has lagged behind and has become embroiled in far more controversy and turmoil. It's largely these issues that lead to the General Assembly's special session in August and the creation of the new committees that presided over Tuesday's hearing.

Among those appearing before the joint meeting of the House Special Property Reassessment Committee and Senate Special Property Reassessment Committee this week were representatives from Tyler Technologies and New Castle County Executive Marcus Henry. 

Mr. Henry stated in his opening remarks that then-County Executive Matt Meyer, who was elected governor last November, delayed releasing the tentative property reassessments until after the election, even though the data had been available for public review months earlier. 

The county executive told the committee members that in May 2024, Tyler Technologies sent a mailing to all New Castle County property owners requesting them to verify their property characteristics, which served as part of the basis for determining a property’s assessed value. “It is our understanding that New Castle County’s assessment team recommended several times that tentative value notices go out in the summer of 2024,” he said. “It is also our understanding that the prior administration said ‘no’ to those recommendations. Instead, the assessment office was advised that tentative value notices couldn’t go out until mid-November.”

State Rep. Kevin Hensley (R-Townsend, Odessa, Port Penn), in photo, one of three Republicans appointed to the 11-member House Special Property Reassessment Committee, said he was concerned about that disclosure, as well as two other pieces of information that emerged from the meeting.

“We learned that there was no differentiation between preserved farmland and farmland not in the preservation program,” he said. “This is something I found troubling because there is a huge difference between the two.”

Farms inducted into the state’s preservation program have their development rights purchased in perpetuity. Once this occurs, the land can only be used for agricultural purposes; therefore, the value of this acreage compared to neighboring properties that still retain their development potential is substantial.

“The other concern that I had is that Tyler Technologies indicated there were 11,500 New Castle County properties that filed for an informal appeal and that they found inconsistencies with 55% of them,” Rep. Hensley said. “I am wondering about all of those people who chose not to appeal, because maybe they did not know about the appeals process or how to go about it. How many of those valuations had inconsistencies?”

New Castle County has more than 200,000 parcels of property.

He said he was also troubled that City of Wilmington officials indicated they had not shared with New Castle County any information relating to parcels where construction permits had been issued and later withdrawn—information that could have had a significant impact on property valuations.

“The first meeting was mainly dedicated to fact-finding,” Rep. Hensley said. “I think those of us on the committee agree that we have a lot of work ahead of us to both fix the issues that have taken place and, most importantly, how do we prevent this from happening again.”

The next joint meeting of the House Special Property Reassessment Committee & Senate Special Property Reassessment Committee will take place on Tuesday, October 7th, starting at 9:30 a.m. in the House Chamber of Legislative Hall. 

The meeting is open to the public and will be streamed live via a link posted on the General Assembly’s home page at legis.delaware.gov.

Click on the graphic to see the video.

NEWS VIDEO:

Delaware's First Secretary of Veterans Affairs Takes Oath of Office

Brigadier General (Ret.) Karen Berry was sworn in on Wednesday as Delaware’s first cabinet-level Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

The event marked the culmination of many years of effort by veteran advocates to enhance the delivery of services to the approximately 70,000 former military personnel living in the state and their families. They argued that veterans were not getting access to all the benefits they had earned and that Delaware was failing to claim millions of dollars in federal funding available to assist them.

Governor Matt Meyer signed House Substitute 1 for House Bill 1 earlier this month, establishing the new Department of Veterans Affairs and elevating veterans’ services to a cabinet-level agency. The new department will centralize and expand services for veterans across the First State, including benefits assistance, housing support, healthcare coordination, and mental health services.

General Berry was sworn in at the Delaware Veterans Home in Milford, surrounded by family, friends, elected officials, state agency leaders, and dozens of veterans whom she now represents.

State Rep. Jeff Hilovsky (R-Long Neck, Oak Orchard), in photo, was one of the prime sponsors of the bipartisan measure, which cleared the General Assembly without a dissenting vote. "What this means is that the doors will be unlocked and opportunities will unfold because veterans who have never had a seat at the table will now have that seat," he said.

State Rep. Charles Postles (R-Milford North, Frederica) called the swearing-in "a great day for the State of Delaware," adding that the new post would provide a level of veterans' advocacy that has long been overdue.

A retired Brigadier General with a distinguished 36-year military career, Sec. Berry was lauded at the event as the right person to lead Delaware’s newest agency. The Delaware State Senate confirmed her nomination to the post late last month.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will, for the time being, remain part of the Department of State for budgetary, administrative, and operational purposes. One of Sec. Berry’s first tasks will be to collaborate with other executive branch officials to develop a transition plan to separate her department from the Department of State no later than July 1, 2030.

NEWS:

State Representative's Controversial Social Media Posts Cited as Offensive, Troubling

Recent posts by State Rep. Eric Morrison (D-Glascow) on his official state Facebook page have drawn sharp criticism.

The first post, made September 18, featured a screen-grab of an NBC News story that referenced the potential for a military recruitment campaign tied to the death of Charlie Kirk. Included with the post was Rep. Morrison's observation: "Full-on Nazi youth recruitment…".

Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, was murdered on September 10 on the campus of Utah Valley University by a sniper while debating with students and professors at an outside event.

On September 22, Rep. Morrison posted a graphic that read: "When Fascism Comes to America, it will be Wrapped in a Flag and Carrying a Cross." The statement is often attributed to novelist Sinclair Lewis and his novel, It Can’t Happen Here (1935), which explores the rise of fascism in America; however, the Sinclair Lewis Society disputes this claim.

While the intent of the second post was more ambiguous than the first, it still drew over 330 comments and sparked deep division among respondents.

Both posts remained on the page at the time of publication of this newsletter.

In a prepared statement, Sussex County Republican Party Chairman and military veteran Daniel Willis condemned Rep. Morrison's Nazi reference. "This rhetoric is not only deeply offensive, it is a direct insult to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who have made the honorable choice to serve our nation. Fewer than one percent of Americans wear the uniform, and every single one of them does so voluntarily...To demean that act of service with comparisons to one of history’s darkest regimes is unacceptable."

State Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford South), in photo, echoed similar sentiments on his privately administered Facebook page, Mr. 302: "We are beginning to see troubling warning signs of political violence within the Delaware General Assembly," he wrote the day after Rep. Morrison's first post. "To equate America’s military with that kind of evil is not only irresponsible but a warning sign of how political rhetoric can be weaponized to fuel division and violence in our country."

Yesterday, Rep. Shupe revisited the issue in a new Facebook post, questioning why majority House Democrats have failed to take any action rebuking Rep. Morrison.