Wilmington Council Passes Property Tax Rate Despite Resident Objections

On Thursday, Wilmington City Council voted to approve a new property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year. (Photo by David McBee)

WILMINGTON —On Thursday, Wilmington City Council voted to approve a new property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year, as residents and lawmakers grappled with the fallout of a controversial reassessment conducted by Tyler Technologies.

The approved ordinance establishes a bifurcated tax rate of 3.7413M for residential properties and 5.8276M for commercial properties for fiscal year 2025–2026. The city says the rate will be revenue-neutral, avoiding an overall increase in total tax revenue while responding to major disparities in the new property values.

Residents from across the city packed the meeting to share stories of inflated assessments that, they said, dramatically overstated the value of their homes and threatened to displace families, particularly in low-income and historically underserved neighborhoods.

“I could not sell my home today in that same block for that amount of money,” said Rosalyn Ponzo, a resident of the sixth district, citing a nearby home’s sale price as proof that her area is being overvalued.

Lourdes Rivera, who has lived in the 5th district for 35 years, said her home was assessed at nearly $197,000—well above the $132,000 the Zillow price says it’s worth.

“The new reassessment is not helping us, and fact is hurting us,” Rivera said. “The prices are too high and they don’t match the real value, even the city said the assessments are wrong in Wilmington.”

Dr. David Chen, a resident of the eighth district, reported a 911% increase in his assessed property value.

Chen said his home, purchased in 2016 for about $317,000, had previously been assessed at just $62,000 — a figure he called “grossly underestimated for historic reasons.” While he acknowledged the need for updated assessments, he said the new $611,000 valuation from Tyler Technologies represents a 911% increase — far above the countywide average of 511%.

Other speakers questioned the transparency of the reassessment, the fairness of the appeals process, and the other negative effects of inflated taxes.

Council members acknowledged the flawed process but debated whether approving the tax rate would amount to endorsing a broken system, or a necessary step to prevent deeper fiscal harm.

“This is a bad situation,” said Councilman Chris Johnson. “Unfortunately, we are where we are. If we don’t pass this, we cannot pass a balanced budget.”

Councilman James Spadola criticized the flawed process, calling Tyler Technologies’ work “an awful job.” Still, he stressed the city’s legal obligation to adopt a balanced budget by the end of May.

He acknowledged the plan isn’t ideal but said the mayor’s adjustment to the residential tax rate made a difficult situation somewhat more tolerable.

“Right now, this is the only path forward,” he said, urging colleagues to focus on keeping the government functioning rather than dwelling on past missteps.

Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver voted “present” and expressed her concerns, citing the impact on elderly constituents.

“They don’t even know how to fill out the link, and they’re not familiar with the process,” she said. “Everybody’s struggling with this tax assessment.”

Opponents of the ordinance argued that passing it validated an inequitable system. Councilmembers Owens and Hackett were among those who voted no.

“I oppose this resolution, which sets this property tax rate based upon a deeply flawed premise and unjust assessment,” said Owens. “We cannot just keep rubber-stamping a deeply flawed processes and policies. I understand people work in a little bit of time to try to fix this, but that does not justify a flawed system.”

In the end, the ordinance was passed by a vote of 8–5.

“If we don’t do this, then we already know that those assessments are going to go forward if we do nothing,” said Councilwoman Cabrera. “At least by doing this, Mayor Carney is taking some control and limiting the rate of what the taxes will go up in the city, until we can come up with a solution.”