Sussex County offers payment plans for people with higher tax bills
Sussex County will begin accepting installment payments next month from owners of properties that had tax bill increases of at least $300 compared with last year, as it enacts a policy mandated by the state.
The Delaware General Assembly passed a series of bills last week in response to statewide complaints that followed the court-mandated assessment updates in each county. Sussex County’s revaluation was its first in about 50 years.
Most of the bills passed by the state did not affect Sussex County or codified practices already in place, said County Finance Director Gina Jennings as she outlined them at the Aug. 19 Sussex County Council meeting.
The state will require counties to offer payment plans for owners of primary residences with bills that increased more than $300. Equal installments will be due Sept. 30, Nov. 15 and Dec. 31. No interest payments are required if payments are made on time.
Any property owner wishing to enter an installment plan must apply to the county before Tuesday, Sept. 30. Applications are available on the county website at sussexcountyde.gov/pay-your-bill.
There are 9,548 primary residential properties not paid by mortgages that had billing increases over $300, most of them in the Cape Henlopen and Indian River school districts, which accounted for nearly 7,000 of those properties, Jennings said.
She said she sent information about payment plans to the school districts before the Aug. 19 meeting.
The 203,000 parcels in the county were reassessed by Tyler Technologies over the past few years.
The value of beachfront property in Sussex County increased by 80 times, four times the average for all residential property.
Jennings noted that 24% of properties had higher tax bills due to the assessment update.
A resolution passed by the state calls for a review of the assessment process, but Jennings said she was not sure what that means for Sussex County.
“Miss Jennings, I would like to thank you very much for all your hard work, and your excellent analysis and explanation of this thing, because it has gotten very, very convoluted,” said Council President Doug Hudson.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
