SUSSEX COUNTY, Del.-Â Currently, property values are at the rate decided in 1974. That will be changing over the next three years.
Sussex County has hired Tyler Technologies to go door to door and figure out the value of each property. Tyler will send about twenty people into each neighborhood to physically measure properties. In some cases though, they will use a drone.
Sussex County Administrator Todd F. Lawson says that the council agrees that this needs to be done not just in Sussex but throughout the state.
"If one county was to reassess then all three should reassess and we should come up with a unified assessment of all the properties in the state and that's what's happening," Lawson said. "So I would say that's a good thing."
Regional Sales Lead for Tyler Technologies Paul Miller says that each property owner and the taxes they have to pay could be higher, lower, or stay the same.
"If your value was of a greater proportion or greater rate than the majority of the people you would see an increase," Miller said. "But there is also people on the other side of that that thiers did not go up as much as the average. So therefore theirs would decrease."
Dave Thompson has only lived in Milton for about five years but he was surprised when he learned this hadn't been done sooner.
"Most places do go through a cycle where they reassess every four or five years," Thompson said. "So, when I heard about this it was shocking to learn that some properties hadn't been reassessed. So that's why I'm welcoming this."
You can see those researchers as early as October 1. Data collection will continue through late 2023. Data mailers will be sent to owners to confirm that the information collected is correct.
If you missed today's meetings, the rest of the meeting schedule can be found here. It includes a virtual meeting on Monday at 2 p.m at https://bit.ly/3tCDel5.