Cape Henlopen schools begin developing flat tax rate
Change comes after two failed referendums
Precluded from increasing the property tax rate after two failed referendums this year, the Cape Henlopen School District Board of Education began developing a flat fiscal 2025 tax rate last week, a process expected to continue at its July 11 meeting.
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Already a member? Log in to continue. Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
Please log in to continue |
Cape Henlopen schools begin developing flat tax rate
Change comes after two failed referendums
By LEWES — Precluded from increasing the property tax rate after two failed referendums this year, the Cape Henlopen School District Board of Education began developing a flat fiscal 2025 tax rate last week, a process expected to continue at its July 11 meeting.
In Sussex County and via Delaware’s tax code, the elected school board sets property tax rates following certain guidelines. The rate itself is made up of four parts.
Those parts include current operating expenses, set around $31.6 million and tied to the vote; special-school tuition, which can change depending on the number of students served and the services they require; debt service, for past and present projects; and match tax, a partnership to obtain state funds based on local funding commitments.
Increases to cover operating expenses were rejected twice by local voters earlier this year. In May, almost 4,130 voted for the tax increase, up from about 3,600 in March. More than 4,620 voted against in May, up from about 4,200 in March.
Since the votes failed, this portion of the tax rate remains flat in the 2025 proposal.
The tuition component covers the cost of students who attend special schools inside and outside of Delaware. This cost is expected to rise a little, according to the proposal, by almost $0.03 per $100 assessed.
This increase is more than offset by changes in the match tax projected in the document. This tax has five parts: minor capital improvements, technology, extra-time programs, elementary reading resource teachers and middle school math resource teachers.
The largest cut in this part of the proposal is to minor capital improvements, at about $0.03 of the overage, with the rest made up by cuts of $0.0016 from the teacher and after-school programs.
The last part of the tax rate is for debt service, which remains flat at roughly $0.69. Currently, the district is paying bonds dating back to 2006 — covering Cape Henlopen High School construction up until the last bond issuance July 1, 2023, for middle school construction.
With that, the district’s initial plan comes in $0.0001 lower than the current tax rate of about $4.28 per $100 assessed.
