​When the fox guards the henhouse, families lose. Council must vote down this cover-up and deliver real accountability.

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Audit or Illusion? Why New Castle County’s Reassessment Crisis Demands an Independent Audit—Not Insider Spin

 

Forty Years of Silence, One Summer of Shock

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When leaders say “no foreclosures,” but the law says otherwise, the public deserves more than promises. They deserve receipts, reform, and real accountability.

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For four decades, New Castle County ducked property reassessment. Then came 2025: envelopes in July, tax bills that blindsided families, and “revenue neutral” that didn’t feel neutral when bills doubled or tripled.

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👉 NCC Bid 21PP-001 Real Property Reassessment Pre-Proposal Meeting

📅 February 10, 2021

📺 YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjYOYy6E8g

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Behind the curtain:

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• $26.6 million set aside in a special reassessment reserve (2021).

• $20.7 million already paid to Tyler Technologies.

• Ordinances quietly shifting millions back and forth as appeals piled up.

• Delaware now ranked #1 in the nation for foreclosure [The Mortgage Reports, Q1 2025].

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That isn’t neutrality. That’s a crisis.

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The Setup: A Resolution That Pretends to Solve the Problem

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On August 26, Councilmembers David Tackett, Brandon Toole, and Dee Durham introduced Resolution No. 25-150. On paper, it looks like oversight: the County Auditor will “review” the reassessment and decide whether to recommend an outside audit.

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To the public, it sounds like action.

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​In reality, it is a trap.

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Why? Because this so-called “review” puts the investigation in the hands of County Auditor Robert (Bob) Wasserbach—an insider deeply tied to County Executive Marcus Henry and Governor Matt Meyer.

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For years, whenever serious problems surfaced—many of them brought forward by me as Council President—Wasserbach buried them or ran back to the Administration to tell. The answer was always the same: “No problems found.”

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When I brought receipts to the Council floor, I was called a liar—even when I held proof in my hand. That wasn’t oversight. It was cover.

 

Resolution 25-150 Is Not Oversight. It’s Insulation.

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If this resolution passes, here’s what happens:

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• Wasserbach issues a summary.

• The Administration says: “It’s been reviewed. Case closed.”

• Henry and Meyer are inoculated against further scrutiny.

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That’s not independence. That’s insulation. And it leaves families holding the bag.

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The Big Lie: “We Won’t Be Foreclosing”

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Now the County is telling residents: “We will not be foreclosing on homes if taxes are not paid.”

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That is simply not true.

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County law is clear: under Title 9, Chapter 87 of the Delaware Code (9 DE Code § 8610 (2024)) , unpaid property taxes automatically become a lien. If they remain unpaid, the County must initiate the monition process, leading directly to Sheriff’s Sales.

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No ordinance has been introduced or passed to suspend or amend this law. No ordinance has eliminated foreclosures.

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In other words: promises from the Administration don’t override the law. Unless Council changes the law, unpaid taxes will result in foreclosure.

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And in a state already ranked #1 in foreclosures, this isn’t reassurance. It’s a dangerous falsehood.

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What’s Really Happening at the State Level

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In August 2024, the General Assembly passed SB 245, which made Delaware’s foreclosure prevention tools permanent: mediation, loss mitigation affidavits, and financial counseling through the Delaware State Housing Authority. These help families—but they do not stop foreclosures.

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And yes—filing a timely reassessment appeal in New Castle County can buy time and may reduce tax liability. But again, this isn’t a moratorium. Sheriff’s Sales remain active unless taxes are paid or protections are legislated.

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In other words: the State gave us tools. But the County hasn’t used them to shield families from reassessment’s fallout.

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What Council Could Do—If They Were Serious

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Council has the power to fix this. But it won’t happen through Resolution 25-150. Here’s what real action looks like:

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1. Vote Down Resolution 25-150 or it could be withdrawn. Stop this insider review before it buries the truth.

2. Introduce an Ordinance funding an independent, outside IAAO-standard audit. Spell out the scope, set the timeline, appropriate the funding, and require full public release of results. (Fund now or this debacle will only get more expensive without fixes and the next reassessment inplementing the same mistakes.)

3. Pass homeowner relief now. Provide credits, more payment plans, or targeted exemptions for seniors and families blindsided by reassessment—tools we’ve used before.

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Yes, the County Executive will call this “hostile legislation.” I know—because I’ve done it before. But hostile to who? To the Administration’s talking points, or to the residents losing homes and trust?

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The Gold Standard: IAAO Audit

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What does an independent, IAAO-standard audit mean?

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• Independent = not run by the County, not by Tyler, not by insiders tied to Henry or Meyer.

• IAAO-standard = gold-standard benchmarks that prove fairness:

  • COD (Coefficient of Dispersion): Are similar homes valued consistently?

  • PRD (Price-Related Differential): Are modest homes over-assessed while high-value ones are under-assessed?

  • PRB (Price-Related Bias): Does the system tilt one way?

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This isn’t theory. It’s professional, nationwide practice. And it’s the only way to restore trust.

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The Stakes: Trust or Collapse

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We’ve already spent over $20 million on Tyler Technologies. Tens of millions more have been shuffled through reserves. Delaware families are facing foreclosure at the highest rate in the nation.

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And now, instead of demanding transparency, Resolution 25-150 hands the keys to an insider and tells the public to trust him.

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No—the real cost here isn’t an audit. The real cost is broken trust, lost homes, and a government that substitutes spin for law.

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The Bottom Line

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Resolution 25-150 doesn’t solve the problem. It buries it. It shields the Administration. And it leaves residents vulnerable to unfair bills, foreclosures, and false promises.

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Council should vote it down. Then Council should do what it was elected to do: protect the public, not the insiders.

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Because trust comes back the same way it left—with facts, fixes, and relief people can feel.

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Sources

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• Delaware Public Media – Two New Castle County Council members seek audit of county-wide property reassessment (Aug. 3, 2025)

• Resolution No. 25-150 (Introduced Aug. 26, 2025) [NCC Council Records]

• Karen Hartley-Nagle – The Forty-Year Tax Storm

• Karen Hartley-Nagle – The New Castle County Tax Story, 50 Years of Shifts, Stops and Starts

• The Mortgage Reports – Foreclosure filings grow in first quarter of 2025; Delaware ranks #1

• Delaware General Assembly – SB 245 (2024): Permanent Foreclosure Prevention Programs

• New Castle County Code – Title 9, Chapter 14: Property Tax and Monition Process

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Sidebar: What the Law Actually Says

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New Castle County Code – Title 9, Chapter 87 (9 DE Code § 8610 (2024), Property Tax Liens & Monition Process)

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• § 8721. Tax Liens.

  “All taxes laid or imposed by the county government… shall be and constitute a lien upon the property against which such taxes are assessed and levied… until such taxes, together with penalties and costs thereon, are paid in full.”

• § 8725. Monition Method of Sale.

  “If the taxes levied and assessed by the county government… remain unpaid… the County may proceed to sell the lands and tenements of the delinquent taxpayer… by the monition method.”

• § 8726. Effect of Sale.

  “At the expiration of 1 year from the date of the sale, if the property is not redeemed, the purchaser… shall receive a deed… and the title conveyed shall be absolute.”

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In Plain English

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• If taxes go unpaid, a lien attaches to your property.

• If still unpaid, the County initiates the “monition process” — a legal pathway to foreclosure and Sheriff’s Sale.

• After one year, if the property is not redeemed, the owner loses it permanently.

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This process has not been repealed or amended. No ordinance has been passed to suspend or eliminate it.

So when County leaders now tell the public “we will not be foreclosing,” they are making a political promise that directly contradicts the law on the books. Unless Council formally changes the ordinance, the legal foreclosure process remains alive and enforceable.​