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I received my tax bill and couldn’t believe what I saw. My property taxes went up over 300%. In speaking to several neighbors, theirs also went up by ridiculous amounts. Both the state and county blame this on the long-overdue assessments. When the assessments began, much was said about keeping the net tax revenue comparable. I fell for this story and didn’t pay much attention to the many complaints about the competency of the assessors.
What we have here is a major tax increase that was not even voted on. Our elected representatives get to dodge the barrage of complaints and vote on spending their newfound revenue. The bulk of the tax is for schools, and Cape Henlopen High School is again asking separately for new money; give me a break!
Responsible elected officials should vote to return the increase in revenue in 2025 over revenue in 2024 as a credit to the taxpayers. Or to provide a “hold harmless” to taxpayers experiencing increases beyond 10%.
