FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Friday, August 7, 2026

Media Contact:

Jonah Anderson

jonah.anderson@delaware.gov

GOVERNOR MEYER WALKS ON HOUSE BILL 462, CALLS ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO STOP TAXING DELAWARE RENTERS AT COMMERCIAL RATES

Governor Meyer urges lawmakers to finish the job when they return: “A home is a home, whether you own it or rent it.”

DOVER, Del. — Governor Matt Meyer announced today that House Bill 462, which permanently authorizes school districts to tax residential and non-residential property at different rates, will become law without his signature. The Governor said the bill contains technical provisions school districts need to set tax rates ahead of the coming school year, but that he cannot endorse legislation that continues to treat apartments and other residential rental communities as commercial property.

“Across Delaware, apartments are home to our families, friends, and neighbors,” said Governor Matt Meyer. “But under this law, a building that houses teachers, nurses, seniors, first responders, and thousands of working families can be taxed at substantially higher rates than the single-family home next door – simply because those families rent instead of own. A home is a home, whether you own it or rent it. The families of Delaware deserve nothing less.”

The Governor’s decision allows schools and taxpayers to avoid unnecessary disruption before tax bills are issued, while making clear the underlying classification must be fixed. A veto at this stage, the Governor noted, would create uncertainty for school districts without resolving the problem.

Following New Castle County’s reassessment, several school districts adopted split tax rates that grouped apartment communities with warehouses, office parks, and industrial sites. Apartment school-tax rates rose by an average of 55 percent across the county — approaching 81 percent in the Appoquinimink School District — while homeowner tax rates generally declined. In some districts, a 4,000-square-foot single-family home carried a lower school tax burden than a 1,500-square-foot apartment.

House Bill 462 moderates the most extreme disparities by capping apartment tax rates at 185 percent of the residential rate. But the Governor said the law writes a fundamentally flawed classification into permanent statute.

Earlier this summer, Governor Meyer urged the General Assembly to pass Senate Bill 350, which would have permanently classified multifamily housing as residential property and capped apartment school-tax rates at 120 percent of the residential rate — delivering nearly $15 million in annual relief to apartment residents without reducing school district revenue and without affecting Kent or Sussex Counties. The General Assembly adjourned without acting on the bill.

“Those taxes do not simply disappear,” Governor Meyer said. “They are reflected in higher rents, deferred maintenance, and fewer new housing opportunities for Delaware families. We cannot encourage compact, affordable housing while taxing that same housing as though it were commercial development.”

Delaware recently showed the greatest improvement in housing affordability of any state in the nation, according to Realtor.com’s 2026 State Report Cards. At the same time, the state faces a shortage of roughly 40,000 homes, including approximately 20,000 affordable and workforce housing units, and half of Delaware renters are already cost-burdened.

When the General Assembly returns, Governor Meyer is urging lawmakers to establish a permanent property classification system that treats residential rental housing as residential property, protects renters from disproportionate taxation, and does so without taking a single dollar from Delaware’s public schools.

The Governor’s full statement on House Bill 462 can be found here.

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