Sussex reassessment extended one year

Sussex County Council has approved a one-year contract extension to Tyler Technologies to complete its county real estate reassessment. The new deadline is now Feb. 15, 2025.

At its May 16 meeting, council voted 5-0 for the new contract. Currently, data collection of nearly 182,000 properties is underway, with data mailers to residents as the next step in the process.

The reassessment project was triggered by an education funding lawsuit filed against the State of Delaware and all three counties in 2018. The case was settled in 2021, with all three counties agreeing to conduct property reassessments.

Under terms of the original settlement, Sussex County was scheduled to complete its reassessment project by 2024, in time for tax bills to be issued in late summer and ahead of the annual Sept. 30 tax payment deadline. That timeline has now shifted a year.

County officials said the extension is because of higher-than-expected Tyler Technologies staff turnover. The company was awarded a $9 million base-bid contract in 2021.

“This is a tremendous lift, in any jurisdiction, but especially in a county the size of Sussex. With so many parcels, and limited staffing, it is taking considerably longer for our vendor to do the necessary work,” said Sussex County Finance Director Gina Jennings. “We want this done right – accurately and fairly – and the year extension will allow Tyler Technologies to do that.”

Currently, Sussex County property owners pay taxes based on 50% of a property's 1974 appraised value. County property tax is 10% of the annual bill, while 90% is school taxes. On average, single-family home owners pay $118 per year in county property taxes; manufactured home owners pay an average of $46 per year.

For more information on Sussex County’s reassessment project, go to empower.tylertech.com/Sussex-County-Delaware.html.

What it includes

The reassessment will include more than 181,600 properties defined as residential, farm, commercial, manufactured homes, apartments and utility facilities.

Residential – 134,471

Manufactured homes – 25,034

Exempt – 9,242* 

Farm – 8,298

Commercial – 4,084

Utilities – 299

Industrial – 119

Apartments – 78

*Exempt properties include churches, government, community-owned land and some nonprofit-owned land.

Key points

• New tax rates will be set for county and school districts

• Site visits will occur at every Sussex property

• The appraised value of a property will be used to determine the county's assessed value

• Under law, reassessment must be revenue neutral. One-third will see a tax increase, one-third a decrease and one-third will remain the same. Appeals will be available.

• Taxpayers will be notified by mail of their new assessment.