Bill Commons

DE HB 461

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL TAX.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · lower

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 461 pass?

Yes. DE HB 461 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-07-23): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 461 about?

This Act provides special authority to school districts in New Castle County to reset their tax rate for the 2026-2027 tax year. This authority is necessary because several adjustments to the New Castle County tax roll are continuing to be made after the completion of the general reassessment that took effect for the 2025-2026 tax year. This includes the ongoing adjudication of appeals from the assessment values set in the general reassessment as well as quality control reviews, and potential changes pending in other legislation. This Act allows the New Castle County school districts to adjust the tax rate so that no increase in operating revenue over the prior year will be realized, with two exceptions: (1) revenue increases from approved referenda; and (2) revenue equal to the 5-year average growth rate for each district. The 5-year average growth rates for NCC districts are as follows: (1) Appoquinimink, 3.68%; (2) Brandywine, 0.54%; (3) Christina, 0.32%; (4) Colonial, 1.10%; (5) Red Clay, 0.58%; (6) Smyrna, 0.31%; and (7) New Castle County Vocational Technical, 0.96%. This Act sunsets on March 31, 2027.

Who sponsors DE HB 461?

Spiros Mantzavinos, Russell Huxtable, Josue O Ortega and 9 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 461.

Description

This Act provides special authority to school districts in New Castle County to reset their tax rate for the 2026-2027 tax year. This authority is necessary because several adjustments to the New Castle County tax roll are continuing to be made after the completion of the general reassessment that took effect for the 2025-2026 tax year. This includes the ongoing adjudication of appeals from the assessment values set in the general reassessment as well as quality control reviews, and potential changes pending in other legislation. This Act allows the New Castle County school districts to adjust the tax rate so that no increase in operating revenue over the prior year will be realized, with two exceptions: (1) revenue increases from approved referenda; and (2) revenue equal to the 5-year average growth rate for each district. The 5-year average growth rates for NCC districts are as follows: (1) Appoquinimink, 3.68%; (2) Brandywine, 0.54%; (3) Christina, 0.32%; (4) Colonial, 1.10%; (5) Red Clay, 0.58%; (6) Smyrna, 0.31%; and (7) New Castle County Vocational Technical, 0.96%. This Act sunsets on March 31, 2027.

Introduced
2026-06-04
Latest action
2026-07-23 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
  • Russell Huxtableprimary
  • Josue O Ortegaprimary
  • Bryan Townsendprimary
  • Brian Pettyjohnprimary
  • Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
  • Eric Morrisonprimary
  • Bryant L. Richardsonprimary
  • Kerri Evelyn Harrisprimary
  • Trey Paradeeprimary
  • Sarah McBrideprimary
  • Cyndie Romerprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-07-23

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-06-30

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 NOT VOTING

    passage

  3. 2026-06-24

    Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,committee-passage-unfavorable

  4. 2026-06-16

    Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2026-06-16

    Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT

    passage

  6. 2026-06-10

    Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 4 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,committee-passage-unfavorable

  7. 2026-06-04

    Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Not provided by source.

Documents

Not provided by source.

Votes

  • SM

    2026-06-16 · pass · 39-0

    Member-level votes (41)
    • Alonna Berry: yes
    • Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
    • Frank Burns: yes
    • William Bush: yes
    • William J. Carson: yes
    • Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
    • Richard G. Collins: yes
    • Franklin D. Cooke: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: yes
    • Timothy D. Dukes: yes
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: yes
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: other
    • Jeff Hilovsky: yes
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: yes
    • Michael F. Smith: yes
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: yes
    • Eric Morrison: yes
    • DeShanna U Neal: yes
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: yes
    • Charles S Postles Jr.: other
    • Cyndie Romer: yes
    • Melanie Ross Levin: yes
    • Sherae'a Moore: yes
    • Bryan W. Shupe: yes
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes

  • SM

    2026-06-30 · pass · 20-0

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: yes
    • Eric Buckson: other
    • Daniel Cruce: yes
    • Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
    • Gerald W. Hocker: yes
    • Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
    • Russell Huxtable: yes
    • Dave G. Lawson: yes
    • S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
    • Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: yes
    • Marie Pinkney: yes
    • Nicole Poore: yes
    • Bryant L. Richardson: yes
    • Ray Seigfried: yes
    • David P. Sokola: yes
    • Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
    • Bryan Townsend: yes
    • John "Jack" Walsh: yes
    • David L. Wilson: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=143444

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-07-29T13:42:16.048339Z

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