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HB242 • 2025

AN ACT RELATING TO LOCAL SCHOOL TAXES IN THE 2025-2026 TAX YEAR.

Education Housing Land Taxes

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: K. Williams
Last action: 2025-08-12
Official status: Signed 8/12/25
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about the effective date of the bill.

Act About School Taxes in New Castle County

This act allows schools in New Castle County to reset their tax rates for the 2025-2026 school year, with rules about how much money they can collect and when taxes are due.

What This Bill Does

School districts located entirely within New Castle County may set new residential and non-residential tax rates for the 2025-2026 tax year.
The non-residential rate must be at least equal to or twice as high as the residential rate, but not more than double.
Districts have ten business days after the act is signed to set new rates and issue a new tax warrant.
New Castle County will adjust any existing tax bills based on these new rates and extend payment deadlines until October 30, 2025.
If taxpayers overpay due to changes in their bill, they can get a refund or have the extra money applied to future taxes.

Who It Names or Affects

School districts located entirely within New Castle County
Taxpayers who pay school taxes in New Castle County

Terms To Know

tax warrant: A document that tells taxpayers how much they owe for school taxes.
cash flow shortfall: When a district does not have enough money to cover its expenses due to delayed tax payments.

Limits and Unknowns

The act only applies to the 2025-2026 school year.
School districts must follow specific rules about how much revenue they can collect and when new rates are set.
Taxpayers have options for refunds or credits if their bills change.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA 1

1 • K. Williams

Passed 8/12/25

Plain English: This amendment changes the property tax payment deadline from October 30, 2025, to November 30, 2025, and allows schools to request state funds if they face financial issues due to this extended deadline.

Changes the property tax payment deadline for the 2025-2026 school year from October 30, 2025, to November 30, 2025.
Adds a provision allowing schools to request state funds if they face financial problems due to the extended tax payment deadline.

The amendment does not specify how much money can be advanced from State Division I funds or under what conditions.

HA 2

2 • Wilson-Anton

Stricken 8/12/25

Plain English: This amendment allows school boards to set different local school tax rates based on real property zoning classifications effective June 30, 2025, with limits on how much higher one rate can be compared to another.

Adds the ability for school boards to establish varying tax rates based on real property zoning classifications as of June 30, 2025.
Limits the highest tax rate to no more than twice the lowest tax rate.
Ensures that all properties within the same classification have uniform tax rates.

The amendment includes a severability clause to ensure that if any part of it is found invalid, other parts will still be enforceable.

HA 3

3 • Wilson-Anton

Stricken 8/12/25

Plain English: The amendment changes the maximum allowed ratio of non-residential to residential local school tax rates from two to 2.25.

Changes the maximum allowable non-residential local school tax rate to be up to 2.25 times the residential rate.

HA 4

4 • Wilson-Anton

Stricken 8/12/25

Plain English: This amendment stops community owners from raising rents in manufactured home communities because of higher school district taxes in the 2025-2026 tax year.

Adds a new section to HB242 that prevents rent increases based on increased school district taxes for the 2025-2026 tax year.

The amendment only applies to manufactured home communities and does not cover other types of housing.
It is unclear if this will affect all manufactured home communities or just specific ones.

HA 5

5 • Wilson-Anton

Stricken 8/12/25

Plain English: The amendment stops New Castle County from adding interest or penalties to property tax bills that need changes or updates because of HB242, until after a new deadline.

Adds a rule preventing New Castle County from charging interest and penalties on adjusted property tax bills until after an extended deadline.

The amendment does not specify what the extended deadline is or how it will be determined.

HA 6

6 • Wilson-Anton

Stricken 8/12/25

Plain English: This amendment stops community owners from raising rents in manufactured home communities because of increased school district taxes for the 2025-2026 tax year.

Adds a new section to HB242 that prevents rent increases based on higher school district taxes for manufactured homes in Delaware during the 2025-2026 tax year.

The amendment only applies to school district taxes and does not cover other types of taxes or expenses.
It is unclear if this change affects all manufactured home communities equally or if there are specific conditions that must be met.

Bill History

2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 1 to HB 242 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 2 to HB 242 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 3 to HB 242 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 4 to HB 242 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 5 to HB 242 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Suspension of Rules in House
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 1 to HB 242 - Passed In House by Voice Vote
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 2 to HB 242 - Stricken in House
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 3 to HB 242 - Stricken in House
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 4 to HB 242 - Stricken in House
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 5 to HB 242 - Stricken in House
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Amendment HA 6 to HB 242 - Stricken in House
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Passed By House. Votes: 30 YES 8 NO 1 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Suspension of Rules in Senate
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 4 NOT VOTING 3 ABSENT
2025-08-12 Delaware General Assembly
Signed by Governor
2025-08-07 Delaware General Assembly
Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House

Official Summary Text

AN ACT RELATING TO LOCAL SCHOOL TAXES IN THE 2025-2026 TAX YEAR.
This Act allows any school district located in New Castle County to reset its tax rates for the 2025-2026 tax year and to reissue a tax warrant using different residential and non-residential tax rates. The non-residential tax rate must be at least equal to the residential tax rate and may not be more than 2 times the residential tax rate. The total amount of revenue projected to be collected through use of the residential and non-residential tax rates may not exceed the total amount of revenue the district was projected to collect under its original tax warrant. The districts have 10 business days from the enactment of this Act to reset the rates and issue a new tax warrant to New Castle County.
Upon receipt of a new tax warrant, New Castle County will supplement any tax bill already issued for taxpayers in that district and adjust tax bills with an extended deadline for payment of October 30, 2025 for tax bills that change. For any taxpayer who submits payment under the original tax bill and whose total school tax liability is adjusted downward, the difference will be credited against future tax liability unless the taxpayer submits a written request for a refund, in which case New Castle County shall issue a refund.
A school district that resets its rates in accordance with this Act may request and borrow from State Division I funds in the event of a cash flow shortfall of local school funds due to the extension of the deadline for tax payments for the 2026 fiscal year.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. K. Williams & Sen. Walsh & Sen. Mantzavinos & Rep. Minor-Brown & Rep. Harris & Rep. Osienski & Rep. Heffernan & Rep. Morrison & Sen. Sokola & Sen. Townsend & Sen. Lockman & Sen. Seigfried

Reps. Bolden, Burns, Gorman, K. Johnson, Lambert, Neal, Romer, Ross Levin, Wilson-Anton, Chukwuocha, Bush, Carson, Cooke, Griffith, Ortega, Snyder-Hall; Sens. Cruce, Hansen, Sturgeon, Poore

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 242

AN ACT RELATING TO LOCAL SCHOOL TAXES IN THE 2025-2026 TAX YEAR.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, on enactment of this Act:

(1) The school board of a school district located entirely in New Castle County may, for the 2025-2026 school tax year, reset the local school tax rate using a residential and a non-residential tax rate. The non-residential tax rate must be at least equal to the residential tax rate and may not be more than 2 times the residential tax rate. The total amount of revenue projected to be collected through use of the residential and non-residential tax rates

may not exceed the total amount of revenue the district was projected to collect under its original 2025-2026 tax warrant.

(2) New tax rates approved by a school district under this Act must be reported to the County and delivered with a new warrant not later than 10 business days from the effective date of this Act.

(3) Upon receipt of a new warrant under paragraph (2) of this Act, New Castle County shall supplement any tax bill already issued to taxpayers in that district for the 2025-2026 tax year and adjust initial billing using the new local school tax rates set by the district. New Castle County shall extend the deadline for payment of property tax bills for the 2025-2026 tax year that are supplemented or adjusted under this Act to October 30, 2025.

(4) If a taxpayer submits payment prior to an adjustment in billing under paragraph (3) of this Act, and the taxpayer’s school tax bill is adjusted downward, New Castle County shall credit the overpayment against future school tax liability, unless a taxpayer submits a written request for refund of overpayment to New Castle County, in which case New Castle County shall issue a refund.

(5) A school district that resets its tax rates in accordance with this Act may request and borrow from State Division I funds in the event of a cash flow shortfall of local school funds due to the extension of the deadline for tax payments for the 2026 fiscal year.

SYNOPSIS

This Act allows any school district located in New Castle County to reset its tax rates for the 2025-2026 tax year and to reissue a tax warrant using different residential and non-residential tax rates. The non-residential tax rate must be at least equal to the residential tax rate and may not be more than 2 times the residential tax rate. The total amount of revenue projected to be collected through use of the residential and non-residential tax rates may not exceed the total amount of revenue the district was projected to collect under its original tax warrant. The districts have 10 business days from the enactment of this Act to reset the rates and issue a new tax warrant to New Castle County.

Upon receipt of a new tax warrant, New Castle County will supplement any tax bill already issued for taxpayers in that district and adjust tax bills with an extended deadline for payment of October 30, 2025 for tax bills that change. For any taxpayer who submits payment under the original tax bill and whose total school tax liability is adjusted downward, the difference will be credited against future tax liability unless the taxpayer submits a written request for a refund, in which case New Castle County shall issue a refund.

A school district that resets its rates in accordance with this Act may request and borrow from State Division I funds in the event of a cash flow shortfall of local school funds due to the extension of the deadline for tax payments for the 2026 fiscal year.