THE NIGHT
THE MASKS DROPPED

Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis
How New Castle County Quietly Armed Itself for Foreclosure —
While the Council Chambers Burned and Delaware Braced for Tax Hikes

NEW CASTLE COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2025

THE NIGHT
THE MASKS DROPPED
Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis

By Karen Hartley-Nagle, Former President, New Castle County Council (2016–2024)December 5, 2025 | A Truthline Investigative Report

Domus non sunt praeda fisci.

Homes are not the prey of the treasury.

Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis

How New Castle County Quietly Armed Itself for Foreclosure —

While the Council Chambers Burned and Delaware Braced for Tax Hikes

I. Prologue — The Room I Know Too Well

There are council nights you forget.
And then there are the ones that burn themselves into your bones.

November 18, 2025, was the latter.

The chamber looked the same — the high wood paneling, the low murmur of voices, the glare of the

overhead lights.
But something in the air was different that night. Heavier. Thicker.
Meaner.

For eight years, I watched a council majority move like a single, well-oiled machine.
They protected the developers.
They protected the administration.
And no matter how outrageous the bills, how reckless the spending, how harmful to the public — they

locked the votes every time.

But they always pretended it was something else.

They smiled through the contradictions.
They hid behind polite language.
They offered pre-packaged explanations.

They had masks.

On November 18, those masks dropped.

Not slipped.
Not cracked.
Dropped.

And the public finally saw — maybe for the first time — what I had witnessed behind the scenes for nearly a

decade.

A majority that does not serve the public.
A majority that serves developers, donors, and whoever occupies the County Executive’s chair.
A majority that protects the powerful while families are being squeezed to the point of break.

And on that same night — while the chamber erupted over data centers — something far more

consequential slid across the table almost unnoticed:

Ordinance 25-142 — $300,000 for monitions.
Three hundred thousand dollars to accelerate foreclosures.
In the same year Delaware already led the nation in foreclosure rates.

A chamber in chaos was the perfect cover.
They used it.

What the public didn’t see in that chaos is what this report is about.

“A chamber in chaos was the perfect cover. And they used it.”

II. A Maxim for What Comes Next

"Domus non sunt praeda fisci". "Homes are not prey for the treasury".

In Roman law, praeda fisci described something chilling: the moment when the emperor’s private treasury

— the fiscus — targeted private property as a source of spoils.

It was the term jurists used when the state crossed the line from steward to predator, when power shifted from

public duty to private extraction.

The fiscus was not the public treasury bound by oversight, disclosure, and civic accountability.

It was the purse behind the curtain — the fund that grew strongest from what the people lost.

When we choose the maxim “Domus non sunt praeda fisci,” we are choosing the language of that warning.

We are naming a historical abuse that modern democracies promise never to repeat.

Homes are not revenue. Families are not quarry. And no government, in any era, has the moral authority

to hunt its own citizens for the sake of its treasury. And in the end, all the evidence pointed to

one truth we could no longer ignore —

“When government treats homes as prey,

it becomes the very thing our laws were designed to restrain.”

What unfolded in New Castle County during the reassessment — the hidden data, the withheld numbers, the

quiet decisions made without public guardrails, the escalating foreclosure machinery wrapped in bureaucratic language

— resembled not the transparent operation of a public aerarium, but the behavior of a contemporary fiscus.

A system that accumulated power in silence. A finance structure that acted as though the public existed to feed it, not

the other way around.

This maxim crystallizes the truth at the center of this investigation: when government treats homes as prey, it becomes

something our laws were designed to restrain.

The phrase stands as both indictment and reminder — a warning drawn from ancient history,

invoked because its lesson is urgently, painfully relevant now.

“Power doesn’t corrupt in the dark.

It corrupts when the public stops looking.”

III. The Letter on The Kitchen Table

Where the Foreclosure Story Really Begins

It always begins the same way.

A white envelope.
County seal.
Ten days.

Ten days to pay a tax bill a family never expected.
Ten days to stop the legal machinery from clicking into motion.
Ten days before the county can seize everything a homeowner has worked for.

Inside county offices, it's a "10-Day Demand Letter."
Inside homes, it lands like a threat.

From 2017 to 2025, the county sent these letters—and the numbers tell the rest of the story.

The county collected $1,964,112 in county taxes, school taxes, sewer charges, code enforcement fees, legal fees, administrative costs, and other add-ons — with another $8,408,571 taken through Sheriff Sales.

This is where New Castle County’s story now begins.

Not with a budget.
Not with an ordinance.

Not with a tax rate calculator or a press release.

It begins with a notice on a kitchen table — and a system moving faster than the people inside it can keep up.

“Inside county offices, they call it a 10-Day Demand Letter.

Inside people’s homes, it lands like a threat.”

IV. The Reassessment Bomb: How 40 Years Became

One Bill

The Day the Math Broke Households

1. When the Ground Finally Gave Way

The reassessment bomb didn’t go off quietly — it exploded under homeowners.

For the first time in forty years, the numbers were dragged into the present — and homeowners paid the price.

Average residential assessment increase: 477%
Average commercial assessment increase: roughly half that

The ground did not shift evenly — it tilted, sharply, toward homeowners.

The county and state insisted it would be “revenue neutral.”
It wasn’t.

What happened was a redistribution of the tax burden, pulling weight off large commercial operations and

transferring it onto neighborhoods, seniors, working families, and homeowners whose incomes had not risen 477%.

The county said the numbers were “expected.”
Homeowners said the bills were impossible.

Behind the scenes, while reassessment letters were generating panic, New Castle County knew exactly what was coming next:

A tidal wave of tax delinquencies.

They said nothing.

“A 477% increase isn’t a statistic

— it’s a tectonic plate shifting under people’s feet.”

2. The Day Everything Became More Expensive

A 477% increase isn’t a statistic.
It’s a tectonic plate shifting under people’s feet — and no one was warned.

New Castle County hadn’t reassessed since the early Reagan years.

Back when:

Gas was $1.19
MTV was still playing music
The Phillies were still in Veterans Stadium

And the economy — and the county’s housing market — lived in a universe that has absolutely no relation to the Delaware of 2025.

For forty years, homeowners had clung to outdated valuations like a life raft.
For forty years, county leadership postponed the inevitable.

When the reassessment finally landed, it landed with one message:

Your world is about to get more expensive.

County officials insisted the process would be “revenue neutral.”
But in practice, the distribution of tax burden shifted — dramatically — onto residential owners.

Thousands of homeowners opened envelopes expecting a correction.
They instead found a crisis.
Many found increases ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars per year.

And this is exactly where the next domino fell.

“Once the machine starts, it does not stop.”

3. The Machine That Turns Bills Into Losses

Here is how the pipeline works — quietly, mechanically, relentlessly:

Step 1: The Violation
A cracked window. A late sewer bill. A trash violation.
Small issues become expensive quickly.

Step 2: The Fees
Code enforcement fines → administrative fees → interest → legal charges.
The bill becomes bigger than the problem.

Step 3: The Lien
The county adds the lien, compounding costs.
Homeowners don’t even realize how fast it grows.

Step 4: The 10-Day Demand Letter
Ten days to pay — or the process accelerates.

Step 5: The Monition Filing
The county now prepares to take the property through court.

Step 6: The Sheriff Sale Clock Starts
Legal fees are added — sometimes larger than the original debt.

Step 7: The Auction
A generational asset becomes a line on an auction sheet.

Step 8: The Vacancy
The home sits empty.

The neighborhood pays the price.

Once the machine starts moving, families don’t stand a chance.

Once this system starts, it does not stop.

And Ordinance 25-142 just made it stronger.

“The reassessment did not shift the ground evenly

— it tilted, sharply, toward homeowners.”

V. Foreclosure Capital of America

A system that knew the storm was coming — and sped it up anyway.

1. The Warning Signs State Officials Ignored

By early 2025, Delaware had earned a distinction no elected official dared to put in a speech:

Highest foreclosure rate in the United States.

1 in every 761 homes entering foreclosure (Q1 2025)
Foreclosure starts up 58% year-over-year

Rankings that should have triggered alarms instead became a quiet drumbeat:

3rd highest (Sept 2024)
4th highest (Q1 2025)
2nd highest (Sept 2025)
Top 5 again (Oct 2025)

This wasn’t a blip.
This was a pattern — a breaking point.

Families were already stretched thin by:

rising grocery and utility prices
mortgage interest spikes
wages that refused to move
home values shooting upward while paychecks stayed flat

Then came the reassessment.

People were already drowning when the county raised the waterline.

2. What the County Used to Do — Before the Machine Took Over

When I was President of New Castle County Council, Rich Hall — then the General Manager of Land Use — and I made it a principle

to keep people in their homes.

Not because it was politically convenient.
Not because it earned headlines.
But because it was the right thing to do.

We treated housing not as a line item — but as a lifeline.

When families fell behind, we called them.
We worked with them.
We walked the path with them — step by step — until they were steady again.

Because county government was never meant to behave like a collections agency.
Government is not supposed to be a heartless machine.
It is supposed to be the hand that helps you stand back up.

And we always knew the truth:

It costs far less to keep families in their homes than to save them after they’ve fallen.

But look at what the county pays now:

Emergency housing grants
Homelessness stabilization
Shelter funding
Mental health supports
Child trauma services
Blight remediation
Public safety costs tied to vacant properties

Every one of those expenses is higher than simply helping a family avoid losing their home.

And those are just the financial costs.

The human ones are worse:

Families split apart
Children uprooted from their schools
Seniors losing the home that held their life
Trauma that lingers for years
Neighborhoods destabilized
Communities scarred by vacant, damaged homes

These costs don’t show up in a budget table.
They show up in the eyes of a mother packing belongings into trash bags.
In the fear of a senior who doesn’t know where she’ll go next.
In the silence of a family home that goes dark for the last time.

When a county chooses force over help, it’s not just making a policy decision.

It’s making a moral one.

And that is why Ordinance 25-142 matters so deeply.

Because instead of pulling families back from the edge, the county expanded the machine that pushes them

out faster — then spends far more trying to repair the damage afterward.

We once protected people.

Now, the machine protects itself.

3. While Residents Struggled, Delaware Was Already Drowning

The trends weren’t abstract.
They were lived reality:

Behind on mortgage
Behind on utilities
Behind on property taxes

Some counties cushion the blow.
Some build early warning systems.
Some pause legal actions during reassessments.

New Castle County did none of that.

Instead, it accelerated.

4. “Vacant Properties” — The Lie That Hides the Real Story

People throw around the phrase “vacant properties” like it’s just another spreadsheet column.

But vacant is not how a home starts.

Before those houses became county inventory, they were places where:

children took their first steps
families gathered for holidays
school artwork hung on refrigerators

They were homes — until the system made sure they couldn’t be anymore.

Here is the truth the county never says out loud:

Most properties don’t become ‘vacant’ because someone walked away.
They become vacant because someone was pushed out.

Pushed out by code-enforcement fines that ballooned overnight.
Pushed out by legal fees, administrative fees, and reinspection penalties stacked like sandbags.
Pushed out by a county that made the climb back impossible.

A missed payment.
A citation.
A lien.
A monition.

It doesn’t take long for the slide to start — and once it starts, the system speeds it up.

Then, when the families are gone, the county points to the damage and calls it “blight,” as if blight were a

cause and not the effect.

Blight doesn’t come from neglect.
Blight comes from displacement.

And once families are forced out, the house becomes vulnerable — vandalized, stripped, broken into, turned

into a dumping ground or a hideout.

The neighborhood feels it first:
falling values, rising fear, children walking past plywood-covered windows.

This is not a natural decline.

It is the predictable outcome of a government that chose enforcement over assistance.

And if you want to know the real price, don’t look at the property.

Look at the people.

The mother who moved her children mid-year because fees mounted faster than her paycheck.
The senior who lived in her home for 40 years before one bad winter pushed her past the line.
The family who asked for a payment plan — and heard nothing back until the first legal notice arrived.

These are not vacancies.
These are evictions of identity.

And here is the part that stays with me:
When Rich Hall (former Land Use General Manager) and I worked together to keep people in their homes,

it wasn’t politics.

It was government doing what government is supposed to do.

We believed — and I still believe — that New Castle County is not meant to operate like a heartless machine.
It is meant to catch people before they fall — not speed their descent.

And here’s the truth they won’t tell you:

Every time we kept someone in their home, it saved taxpayers money.

But when the county pushes families out, taxpayers pay for all of it — and more.

The financial cost is staggering.
The human cost is incalculable.

This is what “vacant property” really means:

A failure of leadership.
A failure of humanity.
A county that forgot its purpose.

Vacant homes aren’t the beginning of a problem.
They’re the end of a long chain of failures — failures the county still refuses to acknowledge.

5. One Home. One Family. One System That Failed Them.

If you want to understand what Ordinance 25-142 really does, don’t start with the budget.

Start with a single house.

A white Cape Cod off a quiet street in Claymont.
Garden beds overgrown.
Mailbox leaning like it was bracing for the next hit.

Inside lived a family doing what thousands of families do — trying to stay afloat.

She worked in home health care.
He worked at Amazon.
Their daughter caught the bus two blocks away.

Then the squeeze began.

A letter for peeling trim.
A fine for trash cans left out too long.
Another fine for overgrown bushes.

Interest.
Administrative fees.
A lien that doubled faster than they could pay.

They asked for help.
They asked for time.
They asked for a payment plan tied to a real paycheck.

The county gave them nothing.

Then came the envelope — the 10-Day Demand Letter — and the countdown began.

Ten days later, their house wasn’t a home.
It was a “vacant property.”

That’s what the county calls it.

The neighbors call it something else:

“A family pushed out so fast no one had time to say goodbye.”

This is foreclosure up close.
Not a statistic.
Not an ordinance.
A life ripped out of its foundation.

6. The Cost of Losing a Home Is Higher Than the Cost of Saving One

Counties love the word “efficiency.”
But there is nothing efficient about pushing families out of their homes.

Because once a family loses housing, the meter starts running — and the costs explode:

emergency shelters
homelessness stabilization
police responses to vacant buildings
blight remediation
school disruptions
court costs
behavioral health interventions
neighborhood decline
property value drops
re-housing services

Every single one of those line items costs more than helping a homeowner stay.

Prevention is pennies.
Removal is hundreds of thousands.

The county isn’t saving money.
It’s spending more — because it chose the most expensive path:

Break the family first.
Then pay for the fallout.

“These are not vacancies. These are evictions of identity.”

VI. The Ordinance that Tells the Truth

How 25-142 Quietly Expanded the Foreclosure Machine

1. And This Is Where the Story Turns

While the chamber erupted over data centers — fingers raised, tempers flaring, unions shouting, the

spectacle swallowing the room — something else slid across the table almost unnoticed.

Something far more consequential.

Ordinance No. 25-142.
11–1.
$300,000 for monitions.
A foreclosure-acceleration package passed in the middle of chaos.

Spotlight Delaware called the night “fractured,” “tense,” “unlike anything seen in years.”

Perfect conditions for a quiet move.

Because while the public watched the circus, the council did something deadly serious:

It expanded the county’s foreclosure budget in the same year residents were hit with the largest tax shock

in forty years.

And here is the truth that exposes every excuse:

If you want to know what a government values, don’t listen to what it says.
Look at what it funds.

On November 18, New Castle County didn’t fund relief.
It didn’t fund protections.
It didn’t fund help.

It funded monitions — the process that takes homes.

And the administration called it “routine.”

But nothing about this moment — or this year — was routine:

Delaware had the highest foreclosure rate in America.
Foreclosure starts jumped 58%.
The state ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th, depending on the month.
Homeowners were hit with a 477% reassessment increase.
Mortgage escrows spiked.
Utility and grocery inflation gut-punched families already on the edge.

Yet the ordinance was sold as a cleanup tool for “vacant properties.”

Except the county’s own finance director told the truth — out loud:

Monition funding would be used for:

“those that owed back taxes”
“properties with liens”
“code enforcement fees”
“and to pay for attorneys”

That is not “vacant properties.”
That is anyone who falls behind.

And then came the most alarming reveal:

Foreclosures will be contracted out to outside attorneys.
But the ordinance does not name a single one.

Not the firms.
Not the lawyers.
Not the bid.
Not the oversight.
Not the payment structure.
Nothing.

The only person who said it plainly was Councilman Jea Street — the lone “no” vote:

“Ain’t no Black lawyers going to benefit from this.”
“They taking care of who the hell they want to take care of.”
“It’s outrageous.”
“We’re in a fiscal crisis whether you want to deal with it or not.”

The administration’s response?
Finance Director David Del Grande minimized it:

“These aren’t strictly all legal bills… these are also fees attached to liens, code enforcement… not all going to

attorneys.”

No public comment.
No questions.
No transparency.

And then a detail that blows apart the vacant-property excuse:

The Henry Administration burned through $144,000 in foreclosure funds by October — less than four months into the fiscal year.

If this were really about a sudden explosion in vacant homes:

Where is the report?
Where is the data?
Where is the public explanation?

And why hide the names of the attorneys taking the homes?

The machine knows why:

Transparency destroys the narrative.
Secrecy protects the system.

So the vote was taken:

$300,000
No names
No guardrails
11 votes
Passed

And then — silence.

No press release.
No outreach.
No explanation.

When I was Council President, I fought to stop unnecessary foreclosures.
Back then, the machine still wore masks.

Not anymore.

2. The Ordinance That Tells the Truth

On October 28, 2025, the county introduced Ordinance 25-142.

Residents were told almost nothing:

“Routine funding”
“Administrative”
“Budget correction”

But the text reveals the truth:

“$300,000… to cover legal fees for monition actions.”

Why?
Because the foreclosure budget for FY2026 was already exhausted.

By October.

And then the receipts:

“Between 2017 and 2025… 10-Day Demand Letters generated $1,964,812.”

“From sheriff sales, the County collected $8,408,571.”

These aren’t numbers.
They’re confessions.

They show:

Foreclosures generate revenue
Tax delinquencies are monetized
The process is designed to extract
The machine is profitable
And the county is preparing for more

But the most telling line is this:

“Monitions funds have been fully depleted.”

This exposes everything:

The county wasn’t surprised by the reassessment fallout.
It anticipated it.
It planned for it.

And it expanded its foreclosure capacity before homeowners could recover.

3. Follow the Numbers — They Tell the Truth

Three numbers define this ordinance:

Number 1: $1,964,812

Collected after 10-day demand letters.
The pressure works — because it’s meant to.

Number 2: $8,408,571

Collected from sheriff sales.
Not pocket change.
A revenue stream.

Number 3: $300,000

New money to keep the conveyor belt running.
Not relief.
Not protection.
Just acceleration.

This is not government helping.

This is government scaling up.

4. Inside the Machine

Appendix A — the part no one reads — tells the rest of the story.

The county’s internal structure — legal, administrative, supervisory — is fully funded and fully staffed at:

1,684 positions.

Even as:

Residents fall behind
Foreclosures surge
Calls go unanswered
Payment plans lag

Government grows.
Residents shrink.

This is how systems become misaligned:

The county is never under strain.
The people are.

5. The Night They Slipped It Through

November 18, 2025:

union members flooded the chamber
tempers boiled
a councilman flipped off a colleague
the room shook with shouting
cameras captured the flames
reporters chased the spectacle

And in the middle of the noise, the county passed a foreclosure expansion bill.

This wasn’t accidental.

This was timing.

You don’t pass something explosive in a quiet room.
You pass it in a loud one.

The louder the distraction, the smoother the slip-through.

6. If a Bank Operated Like This, Regulators Would Shut It Down

If a private bank foreclosed at this speed — during a tax shock this severe — federal regulators

would swarm them.

Banks must:

verify hardship
offer repayment options
pause foreclosure during review
document all outreach
prove compliance
provide translated notices
forbid “dual tracking”

New Castle County must do none of that.

The private sector faces penalties.

The county faces none.

The irony is brutal:

A bank is required to protect homeowners more than their own government is.

“If you want to know what a government values,

don’t listen to what it says. Look at what it funds.”

VII. Inside the Monitions Machine: Spin, Exceptions, and the Rule

What They Call “Vacant Properties” — and What It Really Means

1. Before they were “vacant,” they were homes.

People talk about “vacant properties” as if they just appear — as if they’re empty shells waiting for someone

to notice them.

But that’s not how it happens.

Before they were “vacant,” they were homes.
Homes with lights on.
Homes with dinner tables and birthday candles and mortgage envelopes opened at the kitchen counter.
Homes where people were doing everything they could to hang on.

And when those families struggled, the county didn’t steady them.
It stacked the weight higher.

Steep code-enforcement fines.
Administrative fees.
Legal fees.
Processing fees — fees for fees.
A hard month became an impossible one.

No reasonable path forward.
No bridge back to stability.
No way to catch up.

The system moved faster than the people inside it.
A missed payment became a lien.
A lien became a threat.
A threat became a monition.
And a home became a headline: “Vacant property.”

But “vacant” doesn’t mean abandoned.
It means someone was pushed out.

And once the families were gone, the houses didn’t stand a chance.
Vandalized.
Deteriorated.
Turned into magnets for crime.
And the neighborhoods — the people who stayed — paid the price.

This didn’t happen because residents failed.

It happened because the county chose enforcement over help.
Because the system meant to catch people
accelerated their fall.

These empty homes aren’t symbols of neglect.
They’re symbols of a government that forgot who it was supposed to protect.

2. What Meyer and Henry Would Say

You can already hear the talking points:

“We’re offering payment plans.”
“We’re following state law.”
“We’re helping homeowners adjust.”
“We won’t foreclose on anyone in a payment plan.”
“We’re being compassionate.”

But look at what they did — not what they say.

When leaders want to avoid responsibility, they showcase the exceptions, not the rule.

They point to a hotline.
A brochure.
A website FAQ.
A temporary legislative fix.

What they don’t mention is the system grinding away in the background — the one they funded, staffed, and accelerated:

the monitions machine.

3. What the County Said — And What It Conveniently Left Out

What they said: “This is routine.”
What they didn’t say: Routine for who? Not for the families losing homes.

What they said: “This is for vacant properties.”
What they didn’t say: Their own finance director admitted it applies to anyone with taxes, liens, or fees.

What they said: “It’s legal cleanup.”
What they didn’t say: The ordinance expands enforcement during the worst foreclosure spike in the country.

What they said: “We offer help.”
What they didn’t say: Enforcement expanded. Outreach didn’t.

When leaders tell the part of the truth that protects them,
they’re not informing the public.

They’re managing it.

4. The Spin — And the Truthline Response

Over the coming year, residents will hear:

“The reassessment was court-required.”
“The county offers payment plans.”
“A foreclosure moratorium isn’t necessary.”
“The ordinance was routine.”
“Other counties do this too.”
“This is being sensationalized.”

But here is the Truthline response:

Spin: “This isn’t a foreclosure bill.”
Truth: It directly funds the mechanism that leads to foreclosure.

Spin: “We’re protecting homeowners.”
Truth: The county expanded the tool used to take homes — during a tax shock.

Spin: “It won’t affect many people.”
Truth: Delaware has the highest foreclosure rate in America.

Spin: “This was just budgeting.”
Truth: Budgets are policy — especially when passed in silence.

Spin: “We’re working on updates.”
Truth: Families can lose homes faster than the county updates a webpage.

This is why Truthline exists:
for moments when the official narrative and the lived reality diverge so sharply
that only a scalpel can cut through the spin.

“Vacant doesn’t mean abandoned.

It means someone was pushed out.”

VIII. The Spectacle: A County Council Majority With Nothing Left to Hide

When the Masks Finally Fell — in Front of the Cameras

1. The meeting began with tension already simmering.

A truck with a giant pro–data center billboard parked outside.
Union members packed the chamber, shoulder to shoulder.

Council President Monique Williams-Johns opened with a prayer — and within seconds, the room

erupted into arguments over procedure, appropriateness, and respect.

But the moment that defined the night came later.

Councilman Tim Sheldon — former vice president of the Delaware Building Trades — stood, turned toward Councilman Kevin Caneco, raised his middle finger, and flipped off his colleague.

In full view of the room.
In full view of the cameras.
In full view of the residents he claimed to represent.

Then he stormed out.

He didn’t return.

First State Update didn’t need to exaggerate anything:

“Prayer, Yelling, and Flipping The Bird Break Out During New Castle County Council Meeting Tuesday.”
(First State Update, 2025)

It was shocking — but not new.

For eight years, I saw this behavior when the cameras were off.

The difference now is simple:

They no longer feel obligated to hide it.

No fear of backlash.
No fear of accountability.
No fear of consequence.

And that kind of unchecked confidence — the arrogance of power — is how bad legislation passes.

2. Real Leaders Protect People Before the Panic Starts

Real leadership looks like this:

Warn early
Freeze enforcement during crises
Build dashboards before bills go out
Bring in experts
Hold town halls
Publish clear guides
Halt monitions until stabilization
Build hardship pathways
Protect seniors
Adjust timelines
Reduce fees
Design affordability plans

Meyer and Henry did none of it.

They didn’t manage the crisis.
They managed the optics.

“They no longer feel obligated to hide it.”

IX. The Developer Machine Out in the Open

The Night the Real Power Structure Showed Itself

For eight years, the same names produced the same outcomes.

Janet Kilpatrick — the executive’s messenger, architect of developer legislation, and chief orchestrator of opposition smears.
George Smiley — the enforcer, gatekeeper of finance, and handler of A-lister asks.
Tim Sheldon — Kilpatrick’s echo, the union-developer liaison, and a talent for turning a simple point into an unsolvable riddle.
John Cartier — the reliable vote who does as he’s told.
Penrose Hollins — siding with Kilpatrick even when it contradicted his past positions.
Jea Street — hell-raising in public, but voting with the old guard when it counted.
Valarie George — following Kilpatrick and Smiley’s instructions.

And the majority bloc, always moving with the County Executive — first Meyer, now Henry.

(Alphabetical voting order, 7 votes needed to pass: Caneco, Carter, Cartier, Durham, George, Hollins, Kilpatrick, Sheldon, Smiley, Street, Tackett, Toole, Williams-Johns.)

Over the years, the pattern was unmistakable:

In committee, they promised “guardrails.”
In the media, they claimed they were “standing with residents.”
Then on the floor, they voted the opposite.

There was always a spin — always a line meant to soften the blow:

“It’s more complicated than people think.”
“This is actually helping residents.”
“Don’t worry — we’re looking out for you.”

This time, the mask came off.

Kilpatrick said the quiet part plainly:

“If Starwood leaves, the rest will leave.”

Not Delaware families.
Not residents crushed by rising assessments.
Not people terrified of skyrocketing electric prices or environmental impacts.

Starwood.

A private developer.
A company with millions at stake.
A company whose interests had become the council majority’s north star.

When Kilpatrick said, “economic development or you die,” she wasn’t talking about homeowners.

She was talking about developers.

And when residents pushed back online, the defenders emerged instantly — armed with misleading talking

points, pretending:

Delaware already had data centers of this scale
There would be no environmental impact
The concerns were exaggerated
The public didn’t understand the “real” issues

But the public wasn’t confused.

They were watching the machine operate in real time.

“This time, the mask came off.”

X. Foreclosures Are Not an Endpoint — They are the Beginning

How Leadership Ignored the Warnings — and Built a Crisis

1. Every foreclosure has a beginning.

In New Castle County, that beginning wasn’t a missed payment.
It was a policy failure dressed up as progress.

Behind every tax bill is a kitchen table.
Behind every kitchen table is a family trying to hang on.
And behind this crisis is leadership that looked away when the alarms began to sound.

When the reassessment began under former County Executive Matt Meyer, the guardrails weren’t optional.
They were the standard.
The blueprint.
The checklist that prevents a community from being blindsided.

They were clear:

Conduct a full audit of Tyler Technologies’ methodologies.
Communicate early and often with residents.
Hold public forums across the county.
Protect seniors, low-income families, and fixed-income homeowners.
Prohibit foreclosure actions tied to reassessment shock.
Establish a hardship review panel.
Implement caps, phase-ins, or graduated relief.
Provide reassessment calculators and plain-language guides.
Require school districts to phase in new tax burdens.

He didn’t miss one or two.

He missed all of them.

Instead, Meyer:

Fast-tracked the reassessment.
Built no protections.
Blamed the courts for a process he controlled.
Watched the pressure rise — then left to run for Governor.

And Marcus Henry — who stood inside Meyer’s administration and watched the crisis forming — did not

step in as the stabilizer the moment required.

He didn’t slow the slide.
He embraced the machinery that caused it.

When the General Assembly passed House Bills 241 and 242 to soften the blow, Henry promised residents

a “comprehensive update.”

It never came.

Because Meyer never built the guardrails, the crash was inevitable.
Because Henry never hit the brakes, the crash became policy.

Months later, residents still do not have:

a plain-language guide
a hardship hotline
an appeals navigator
a foreclosure moratorium
a community protection plan
data center energy disclosures
a credible strategy for the tidal wave ahead

What Henry’s administration delivered instead was simple:

$300,000 to accelerate foreclosures.

Residents got reassurances.
The foreclosure system got resources.

When government moves slowly to help you but quickly to take your home,
the issue isn’t communication — it’s priorities.

2. What Meyer Should Have Done — And Didn’t

Matt Meyer had every opportunity to get this right.

He should have:

Ordered an independent audit of Tyler Technologies’ valuation models.
Created a homeowner–realtor–appraiser task force.
Built a public dashboard tracking delinquencies and foreclosures.
Imposed a moratorium on monitions during reassessment rollout.
Conducted early outreach to seniors and fixed-income households.
Created a dedicated tax relief hotline.
Blocked 10-Day Demand Letters until accurate data was ready.
Froze sheriff sales during the fallout.
Warned residents of projected delinquency spikes.
Delayed billing by one cycle to allow appeals.
Implemented a 6–12 month stabilization plan.
Built actual relief — not PR.

He did none of it.

Not because he ran out of time — but because he never tried.

The crisis matured while he prepared for higher office.

3. What Henry Should Have Done — And Didn’t

As the new County Executive — and as the former General Manager who watched the crisis form from the

inside — Henry had the clearest view of all.

He could have done what Meyer refused to do.

He should have:

Frozen monition actions for reassessment-impacted homes.
Built a transparent dashboard of delinquencies and foreclosures.
Made monition and foreclosure data public.
Disclosed how many homes were at risk.
Stopped 10-Day Demand Letters during transition.
Halted the depletion of monition funds.
Suspended monitions until stabilization occurred.
Implemented automatic hardship-based payment plans.
Built a relief center before allocating $300,000 for legal fees.
Warned the public of the coming foreclosure wave.
Prioritized families over revenue streams.

He did none of it.

He did not warn the public.
He did not freeze the system.
He did not disclose the danger.

What he did do was fund the pipeline.

The one thing they fast-tracked wasn’t relief.
It was foreclosure.

4. The Failure at the Top: Meyer and Henry

Matt Meyer — The Governor Who Saw the Crisis Coming

and Walked Away

Meyer was at the helm during:

the reassessment
the Tyler Technologies contracting
the COVID-era volatility
the early delinquency surge

He knew:

how sharply values would rise
how many households would be hit
how fast delinquencies would follow
how fragile families were
how few protections existed

He had all the tools:

moratorium authority
administrative delay powers
emergency relief discretion
messaging control
the bully pulpit

He used none of them.

He didn’t soften the crisis.
He didn’t slow the crisis.

He walked away from it.

And now, as Governor, he asks Delaware to trust his fiscal stewardship — even as the county he led is bracing

for a foreclosure wave it was never prepared for.

Leadership isn’t measured by the problems you inherit.
It’s measured by the warnings you ignore.

Meyer ignored almost all of them.

5. Marcus Henry — The County Executive Who Expanded Enforcement Instead of Relief

Henry entered office with full knowledge of the crisis.

He had the vantage point.
He had the history.
He had the ability to change course.

He didn’t.

Under Henry:

No moratorium.
No freeze.
No suspension.
No protection strategy.
No transparency dashboard.
No emergency outreach.
No income-based plan.
No independent audit.

What he did approve:

$300,000 more for monition enforcement
10-Day Demand Letters without pause
A foreclosure pipeline fully active during reassessment shock

Then he reassured residents that “updates were coming soon.”

When leaders prepare the system instead of the public,
the message is unmistakable.

They didn’t plan for your recovery.
They planned for your surrender.

6. What This Tells Us About Meyer and Henry

“If you want to know what a leader will do tomorrow,
look at what they did when no one was watching.”

Meyer’s record reveals:

image over impact
avoidance over honesty
accountability outsourced or ignored
residents treated as numbers, not neighbors

Henry’s record reveals:

operational silence
bureaucratic compliance
enforcement over empathy
no proactive communication

When a government budgets for foreclosures instead of preventing them,
it tells you exactly who they expect to lose
— and who they expect to pay for it.

This isn’t just about foreclosures.

It’s about a government that prepared the system
but never prepared the people.

When leaders strengthen the foreclosure machine
instead of the safeguards meant to protect homeowners,
the message could not be clearer:

They planned for your failure — and budgeted for it.

And now, Governor Matt Meyer asks Delaware to trust his

fiscal stewardship — even as the county he led is

bracing for a foreclosure wave it was never prepared for.

XI. Why This Report Matters — And What Comes Next

Because the Crisis Is No Longer Theoretical — It’s Scheduled.

New Castle County is standing on the edge of a problem its own leaders engineered — and are now

pretending not to see.

What comes next will not be an accident. It will be the foreseeable, preventable consequence of decisions

made in full view of the data, the residents, and the county’s own warnings.

This isn’t just “what might happen.”
This is what will happen if nothing changes.

“Foreclosures don’t start with bad decisions at a kitchen table.

They start with bad decisions at the county building.”

1. The Consequences — What This Creates

This affects every resident. Every street. Every school. Every home.

Here’s the reality unfolding underneath the reassessment:

Higher Delinquency Rates. Families falling behind not from neglect, but from arithmetic.
More Sheriff Sales. The foreclosure pipeline is funded, expanded, and ready.
Neighborhood Instability. Vacancies rise, crime follows, property values fall.
School District Chaos. Volatile tax bases mean volatile classrooms.
County Political Volatility. Foreclosures erode trust — the only currency local government has left.
A Wave That Will Crest in 2026. When appeals close, the monitions surge begins.

This isn’t abstract policy. It’s kitchen-table reality.

And it doesn’t stop with homeowners. It hits:

property values
neighborhood cohesion
school budgets
law enforcement response
county social services
mortgage stability
senior communities
renters
future homebuyers
local banks
small business districts
regional economic development

Because once a county starts feeding its budget with delinquency revenue, a cycle takes hold:

Delinquencies → Monitions → Sheriff Sales → Revenue → More Monitions

That is not fiscal stability.
That is fiscal cannibalization — a government eating the future to pay for the present.

“The county knows what’s coming —

because it built the machinery to make it happen.”

2. The Trajectory — What Comes Next (The Hard Truth)

Look at the present facts:

depleted FY2026 monition funds
a $300,000 emergency appropriation
Delaware’s highest-in-the-nation foreclosure rate
a 477% reassessment shock
legislative relief that arrived too late
no moratorium
no transparency
no best practices
internal division inside county government

Now follow the line forward.
This is not a prediction. It is a trajectory.

Here is what the county refuses to say out loud:

more delinquencies
more appeals
more monitions
more sheriff sales
more vacancies
more neighborhood decline
more school instability
more families pushed to the edge

The next 12–36 months will bring:

A surge in monitions filings — faster and broader than anything residents have ever experienced.
Increased sheriff sales — driven by liens and legal fees.
Deepening instability — in working-class and senior communities.
Political accountability battles — as residents connect the dots between legislation and consequences.
A credibility crisis — for the county government and the offices that enabled this.
A statewide political reckoning — as Meyer (now Governor) and Henry (now County Executive) face what they set in motion.

“Every dollar saved through monitions

will cost three dollars in human fallout.”

3. The Fallout — Who Pays the Price

A. Neighborhood Decline

When foreclosures rise, communities don’t fray — they unravel.

families leave
homes sit vacant
crime increases
property values drop
school enrollment destabilizes
municipal costs explode

We saw it after 2008.
We are about to see it again.

B. Schools Will Feel It First

Delinquency is not just a budget issue.
It is an educational earthquake.

When:

delinquencies rise
monitions multiply
appeals backlog
households destabilize

schools lose stability. Teachers lose resources. Children lose ground.

Education doesn’t collapse in a day.
It collapses one delinquent tax bill at a time.

C. The Social Safety Net Will Be Overrun

Foreclosures don’t end at the sheriff sale. They spill into:

homelessness
emergency housing
senior services
mental health needs
county social services
crisis intervention

Every dollar “saved” through monitions will cost three dollars in social consequences.

D. The First Casualty of Foreclosure Is Childhood

Children lose more than a home.
They lose stability, routine, friendships, safety, and the ground beneath their future.

Forced displacement leaves lifelong scars:

lower academic performance
higher dropout rates
increased behavioral issues
long-term trauma

Foreclosure is not a housing event.
It is a childhood crisis.

“Foreclosure doesn’t just take homes. It takes childhoods.”

4. The Reveal — What the County Is Really Doing

Across the country, the best-run counties follow gold-standard practices during mass reassessments:

early-warning homeowner hubs
public impact briefings
income-sensitive payment alignment
transparency dashboards

New Castle County chose none of them.

Instead, it expanded:

legal fees for foreclosure
attorney support for monitions
the foreclosure pipeline budget

This is not preparing to protect residents.
This is preparing to take their homes.

And here is the mask that finally dropped:

Reassessment hits — 477% average increases.
Tax bills rise — and will rise again.
Delaware leads the nation in foreclosures — #1 in America.
And at that exact moment… New Castle County expands its foreclosure machinery.

This is not coincidence.
It is a coordinated playbook.

Residents saw the arrogance on November 18:

the finger
the shouting
the developer alliances
the dismissal of public concern
the fixation on Starwood
the contempt for transparency

But beneath the spectacle, one move eclipsed everything else:

Arming the county to take homes faster — right as taxes are set to spike at every level of government.

That is the real story.
That is the crisis.
That is the mask that fell.

“In the moment Delaware led the nation in foreclosures, the county expanded its foreclosure machinery.”

I'm a paragra

XII. The Tax — County, State, and Schools All Moving

At Once

The bills won’t arrive one at a time. They will arrive all at once.

This ordinance is not the end of a process. It is the beginning of an avalanche.

Because here’s what the public has not been told:

New Castle County residents are staring directly at a convergence of tax increases — school, county,

and state — all moving at the same time.

Some have already been announced. More are coming. None of them are accidental.

A. School Districts Are Already Signaling Higher Taxes

The education system is moving first — and fast.

Laurel School District approved a current expense referendum, its first in 40 years, scheduled for February 9, 2026.
Caesar Rodney School District approved its operating referendum for the same day.
Delmar School District is actively preparing its own referendum, driven by inflation, overcrowding, and structural deficits.

These are not isolated cases.

More will follow.
That is inevitable.

When reassessment hits and property values spike on paper, school districts know the public will be

forced to carry more.

And they are moving accordingly.

B. County Taxes Are Next — And the Numbers

Are Worse Than Residents Know

Behind closed doors, insiders confirm that County Executive Marcus Henry already has the votes for at least

a 15% county tax increase.

But the part the administration doesn’t want to say out loud is this:

The General Fund Financial Update given to Council on October 14, 2025 used numbers from August — not September, not October, not current.

Why?

Because even the August numbers are alarming.

According to one experienced finance expert, those numbers indicate a potential 43% tax increase.

Not 15%.
Not 20%.
Forty-three percent.

If this is true — and nothing in Henry’s actions suggests otherwise — the county is not preparing a

budget that protects residents.

It is preparing to extract from them.

The tax increases are not being orchestrated to stabilize neighborhoods.
They are being orchestrated to stabilize a government that mismanaged its own finances — and is now

turning the bill over to the public.

C. And the State Is Preparing to Do the Same

Governor Matt Meyer has already signaled a state-level tax hike.

The General Assembly recently approved $400 million to cover his administration’s overspending.
Rather than take responsibility, Meyer publicly blamed the federal government for the shortfall.

It is the same script he used at the county —
where he overspent, blamed someone else, and then positioned the public to pay the difference.

Now, he is using that same script at the state.

And residents will be asked to cover that, too.

D. The Pattern Is Clear

School districts raising revenue.
The county positioning for double-digit tax hikes.
The state preparing increases of its own.

All in the same window.
All at the same moment residents are already struggling to absorb reassessment shock, rising delinquencies, and the threat of foreclosure.

This is not a coincidence.

It is a sequence.

A sequence built by leaders who refused to follow best practices, refused to tell the public the truth, and refused to build guardrails for the very crisis now unfolding.

And the bill — the real bill — is coming.

All at once.

The county isn’t preparing to protect residents

— it’s preparing to extract from them.”

XIII. They Told You Who They Are — Believe Then

November 18 wasn’t a meeting. It was exposure.

For eight years, the same bloc moved the same way.

They smiled.

They nodded.

They played the part.

They told residents one thing and voted another.
They spoke softly in public and carried water for developers in private.
They claimed loyalty to the people while serving the interests of the politically connected.

For eight years, they kept up appearances.

On November 18, 2025, the appearances collapsed.

That night, the mask fell completely — and the public saw exactly who they are.

What they saw was not disagreement.
What they saw was contempt.

Contempt for residents.
Arrogance toward colleagues.
Disdain for public comment.
Loyalty to developers over neighbors.
A willingness to escalate foreclosures during a housing crisis.

When Starwood said “jump,” Kilpatrick asked “how high.”
Smiley, as always, announced: “the votes are there.”
Sheldon didn’t bother hiding it — he flipped off a colleague.
Cartier said nothing, because silence has always been his vote.
Henry quietly advanced the foreclosure pipeline.
And Meyer, from the Governor’s office, watched the system he built operate exactly as designed.

For the first time, the public saw all of it — unfiltered.

And now they know.

2. What They Revealed — And Why You Must Believe Them

For eight years as Council President, I watched the same group behave recklessly behind closed doors.
The difference now is simple: the masks have finally dropped.

People are seeing them exactly as they always were.

This council majority has never cared about the public.
They cared about doing what then–County Executive, now–Governor Matt Meyer wanted.
And today, they care about doing what then–General Manager, now–County Executive Marcus Henry wants.

Their loyalty has never been to residents.
It has always been to the developers — with Janet Kilpatrick and George Smiley leading the charge.

For years they tried to hide it.
They gave polished statements in committee meetings, glowing quotes to the media, and reassurances in

council sessions.
They insisted their votes weren’t really against their constituents — that they had “reasoned explanations”

and “complex considerations.”

And people believed them.

But now?

They don’t bother pretending.

They openly say the things they once reserved for executive sessions.
The contempt is no longer subtle.
It’s on display.

Take Kilpatrick.
She told you exactly where her loyalties lie.
Believe her on that.

But don’t believe her when she claims Starwood — or any other company — will flee the county if even

modest guardrails are placed on the data center industry.

That is simply not true.

Developers will make enormous money either way.
The only question is whether residents survive the cost.

For eight years, the same majority pretended they were looking out for the public — even as their votes repeatedly

betrayed residents on land use, spending, transparency, and oversight.

But on November 18?

They said it out loud.

Kilpatrick: loyalty to Starwood.
Sheldon: contempt made literal.
Cartier: silence while voting against residents.
Smiley: the bully force behind the machine.
Henry: funding foreclosures during a crisis.
Meyer: watching from the Governor’s office as the system he built continues to operate.

This is who they are.
This is who they have always been.

And now they’re not hiding it.

“They weren’t caught slipping.

They were caught being themselves.”

XIV. Delmarva Power & Water Utility Rate Increases: the Quiet Squeeze No One Prepared Residents For...

Before taxes broke household, utilities softened the ground.

This is the part no one warned Delaware families about.
Long before the reassessment bomb dropped, long before the tax machinery activated, long before

foreclosure pipelines were quietly expanded — another force was already tightening around households.

Slowly.
Quietly.
Month by month.

The utilities.
The rate cases.
The capital expansions.
The infrastructure deals negotiated out of sight.
The charges families never voted on.
The bills that arrived whether they could afford them or not.

This was the squeeze that created the conditions for a foreclosure wave — and the county never once

prepared residents for it.

Because once you see the pattern, the truth becomes unavoidable:

Families weren’t failing. They were being failed.

1. The Electric Shock That Hit Delaware Households

This was the blow no one was prepared for — because it arrived while the reassessment shock was already crushing homeowners.

While families were struggling to absorb a 477% reassessment increase, another financial wave slammed

into Delaware households:

historic Delmarva Power electric rate increases.

These weren’t ordinary rate shifts.
They were dramatic — seismic — and perfectly timed to do maximum damage.

Dramatic Delmarva Power Rate Hikes (2023–2025)

(Summarized for Truthline readers)

Delivery charges surged, the portion of the bill Delmarva controls directly.
Supply charges spiked, driven by energy market volatility.
Residential customers saw electricity bills jump by double-digit percentages, even in months when usage barely changed.
Families reported $40–$120 monthly increases, depending on household size and usage.

This wasn’t a minor adjustment.
It was a structural jump.

And it hit at the exact moment:

mortgage escrows skyrocketed
property tax bills exploded
groceries and gas surged
insurance premiums rose
water rates escalated

The timing wasn’t just bad.
It was catastrophic.

A. Why It Happened (Truthline explanation):

Delmarva Power continued major capital investments:

substation upgrades
grid modernization
line replacements
new transmission projects
storm-hardening infrastructure
technology upgrades (AMI, grid automation)

All of these were billed as “future resiliency.”

But the cost?
Put directly on ratepayers.

Every upgrade, every expansion — residents pay for it.
Not shareholders.

Not corporate customers.

Not the large-load users.
Not the data centers.

The residents.

B. The Water Bill Explosion: Veolia & Others

Electricity wasn’t the only utility climbing.

Water bills also spiked, driven by expansions and upgrades the public rarely hears about until the bills arrive.

Veolia Water Rate Increases and Infrastructure Expansions

Veolia aggressively expanded its Delaware infrastructure:

Two new water towers (major capital cost)
System-wide pipe replacement projects
Treatment plant upgrades
Pressure and flow improvements
Regulatory/compliance modernization (PFAS-related updates)
Storage expansions to meet future demand

All of this was charged back to residents through rate hikes.

The narrative from utilities:

“We’re improving the system.”

The reality for families:

“Your bill is going up — again.”

Water Ratepayers Are Funding:

capital improvements
debt service
construction of new towers
increased staffing costs
maintenance of older infrastructure
corporate acquisition debt
expanded service areas

And because utilities are profit-regulated with guaranteed returns, residents are paying more than the raw cost —

they are paying the cost plus profit.

C. Why This Matters to the Foreclosure Crisis

Utilities didn’t just increase costs.

They accelerated financial pressure right when homeowners were already straining under:

reassessment
rising taxes
insurance hikes
higher mortgage escrow requirements
grocery inflation
gas inflation
increasing HOA fees
stagnant wages

Utility costs became the monthly squeeze that pushed borderline households into delinquency.

Truthline’s Bottom Line:

A $50–$120 monthly increase in utility bills is enough to tip:

fixed-income seniors
single parents
working families
renters in older buildings
homeowners with unstable employment

…straight into the delinquency pipeline.

Utilities became the unseen factor in the foreclosure wave.

This is the truth few people understand:

People think foreclosures happen because someone missed one tax bill.
That’s not how it works.

Foreclosures happen because everything hits at once — electric bills, water bills, insurance, groceries,

mortgages, and then the reassessment bomb.

Delmarva Power raised rates.
Veolia built two new water towers and raised rates again.
Aqua raised rates.
Tidewater raised rates.

Every upgrade they made became another charge for families who could barely afford the month before.

So when the County expanded the foreclosure machinery, it didn’t do it in a vacuum.
It did it during the moment when families were at their financial breaking point.

Government saw the storm coming.
Instead of preparing residents, it prepared collections.

Utilities + Reassessment + Taxes + Inflation + Monitions = The Perfect Foreclosure Storm.

2. The Utility Squeeze: The Crisis No One Mentioned While They Built the Foreclosure Machine

Before a single tax bill landed...

Before a single reassessment letter went out...

Before the monition machine was funded with another $300,000

Something else had already started strangling Delaware households.

The utilities.
The rates.
The infrastructure deals no one talked about.
And the bills residents never had a say in.

This is the part of the story county officials hope people never connect.

Because once you see the pattern, the whole picture becomes unmistakable:

Families weren’t failing. They were being failed.

A. The Electric Shock That Hit First

The first blow didn’t come from taxes.

It came from Delmarva Power.

Over two years, electric bills climbed at a pace most families simply could not absorb — not because people used

more electricity, but because Delmarva changed the rules of the bill.

Delivery charges went up.
Supply charges went up.
Transmission costs went up.
New “infrastructure investments” were added.

And suddenly a family that used the same kilowatts they always had was paying $40, $60, $80, sometimes $120 more per

month.

And here’s the part no one said out loud:

Delmarva wasn’t paying for those upgrades.
You were.

Every transformer replacement, every substation modernization, every mile of hardened line — funded by

the people who can’t negotiate, can’t shop around, and can’t opt out.

The residents.
The ratepayers.
The ones now being foreclosed on.

B. While Families Cut Back, Veolia Built Two New Water Towers

Water bills rose too.

Veolia built two new water towers, replacing and upgrading:

pressurization systems
treatment operations
outdated mains
PFAS mitigation systems
storage capacity
regulatory compliance technology

these were Important upgrades — yes.
But paid for entirely by residents.

Pipe replacements? Residents.

Treatment expansions? Residents.

Emergency capital improvements? Residents.

And every rate case that went to the Public Service Commission?
Approved.

Because Delaware ratepayers don’t have lawyers at the table.

Utilities do.

So while the County stared straight into a reassessment bomb, every homeowner was also staring at a water

bill that rose in the dark.

Two towers.
Millions in upgrades.
And not a single public forum explaining what it would cost residents already stretched thin.

C. The Safest Power in the Region — And the Deal Nobody Talks About

Then there’s the piece almost no one in Delaware knows:

The two power lines feeding Delaware from the Salem Nuclear Power Plant.
Crossing farmland.

With payments to the landowner
And a long-term agreement that ties part of Delaware’s energy security — and cost structure — to those lines.

Most residents have no idea:

what that agreement costs
who negotiated it
how the payments work
why the compensation was structured the way it was
or how it fits into Delmarva Power’s rate-setting and long-term planning

But the money flows.
And the ratepayers cover it.

Not the utility.
Not the data center companies.
Not the state.

The people.

D. The Data Center Nobody Asked For — And the Infrastructure Residents Paid For Anyway

Then came Project Washington — the Delaware City Data Center — a project so energy-hungry it required

massive infrastructure preparation.

Who paid for that preparation?

New Castle County residents.
Delawareans across multiple utilities.
Ratepayers who never got a say.

The public wasn’t told:

how much grid reinforcement the data center required
how much transmission build-out was needed
how many upgrades were pre-funded through rates
how much of those “modernizations” were being driven by high-load customers, not households

They didn’t tell residents that their electric bills partly subsidized the infrastructure data centers require.

Data centers don’t run on good intentions.
They run on megawatts.

And someone has to pay for the steel, the wiring, the substations, the cooling, the redundancy.

Guess who that was?

Not Starwood.
Not the developers.
Not the data center companies.
Not the corporations who will profit off the servers.

It was the families now receiving foreclosure notices.

E. The Squeeze That Preceded the Fall

Put it all together, and here is the truth:

Delaware households didn’t just face a reassessment.
They faced:

higher electric bills
higher water bills
higher insurance premiums
higher grocery costs
higher mortgage escrows
higher HOA fees
higher gas prices

...and then tax bills they never saw coming.

By the time the county expanded the foreclosure machine, most families were already in survival mode.

This wasn’t mismanagement.
It was a coordinated failure.

A financial pincer movement:

Utilities tightening from one side.
Taxes from the other.
And the county waiting with the monition paperwork for when the squeeze finally cracked the household budget.

F. The County Knew. The State Knew. The Utilities Knew. The Residents Did Not.

This is the part that should make every Delawarean furious:

Delaware’s leaders knew utilities were raising rates.
They knew reassessment would shock the tax base.
They knew families were getting crushed.
They knew a foreclosure wave was predictable, preventable, and imminent.

And instead of preparing residents…

They prepared the collections system.

Instead of freezing monitions…

They expanded them.

Instead of offering relief…

They funded legal fees.

Instead of building dashboards…

They built pipelines — for electricity, water, and foreclosures.

“When a government sees families being squeezed from all sides — utilities on one end, taxes on the other

— a moral government steps in.

New Castle County didn’t.
It stepped back and watched the pressure build.

And when people began to crack under the weight, the County didn’t ask why.
It asked for $300,000 more to take their homes.” — The Truthline

“Utilities didn’t just raise rates. They weakened families

before the foreclosure machine arrived.”

XV. The Perfect Storm Builds

2026: The Perfect Storm — Tax Hikes, Utility Shocks & Political Overhead

By the time 2026 is over, many families in New Castle County will face more than one crisis.
Here’s what’s not just possible — but financially predictable — and what you, as a resident, homeowner, or

citizen, should understand now.

1. School Tax Referendums — And More Rate Hikes

Several school districts have already signaled referendums or rate increases — meaning households will

absorb new tax obligations stacked directly on top of skyrocketing property valuations and utility hikes.

Recent public reporting confirms what many suspected:
the reassessment process — marketed as “revenue neutral” — has already shifted tax burdens sharply onto

homeowners.

As districts approve referendums, the financial pressure compounds:
inflated home values → higher school taxes → potentially rising municipal obligations (services, maintenance,

debt service).

Outcome: Families already operating on tight margins will face quarterly or semi-annual increases, not just

annual shocks.

2. Another County Tax Hike — or Two

Insiders warn that County Executive Marcus Henry already has the council votes for a 15% county tax

increase in 2026 — a figure circulating among finance analysts.

But the August financial projections — reviewed by a top finance expert — show the county may ultimately

require up to a 43% tax increase to close structural gaps, and that projection did not include September,

October, or November data.

Costs are compounding:
utilities rising, inflation non-linear, debt service accelerating, social obligations expanding.

Politically, the safe play is obvious:
one increase in 2026, another in 2027 — distributing pain while diluting accountability.

What this means: Even “modest” hikes will be devastating for seniors, fixed-income households, and anyone

already squeezed. Fifteen percent is enough to push many over the edge.

3. Utility Costs Will Keep Rising — The Squeeze Continues

Utility providers continue massive capital programs — upgrades, expansions, compliance, data-center load,

transmission enhancements, and water system modernization.

These investments go directly into the rate base — ensuring that bills rise well into 2026 and beyond.

Households already stunned by increases they barely understood will see further spikes, often at the worst

moments: extreme weather, high usage months, simultaneous cost increases.

Result: For many families, electric and water bills alone may exceed what they previously paid for mortgage,

taxes, and other essentials combined.

4. Political Overhead — Appointees, Executive Assistants, and Government Bloat

Multiple sources confirm that the number of Executive Assistants (EAs) under County Executive Marcus

Henry has expanded dramatically — four times more than under Tom Gordon and one-third more than

under Matt Meyer.

These EAs are embedded across departments, often under different titles, obscuring the real headcount. This appears to be part of a broader political patronage expansion.

Each appointee adds to overhead: salaries, pensions, benefits — long-term taxpayer liabilities.

Signal: The county is not bracing for fiscal discipline.
It is preparing for continued expansion — while expecting households to shoulder the cost.

5. State Budget Shortfall — More Pressure From Dover

On October 31, 2025, Governor Matt Meyer called an extraordinary session after projecting a $400 million state revenue shortfall over three years — citing federal tax changes.

While Delaware moved to decouple certain provisions to blunt immediate impact, the underlying pressure remains. If state revenues continue weakening, counties and municipalities will be pushed to raise revenue: higher fees, higher assessments, increased service charges, even potential statewide property tax or fee shifts.

Outcome: Household tax bills — or statewide fees — could rise again.

Delaware’s fiscal stability is strained, and government will target the easiest source: homeowners and ratepayers.

6. Social Services Crunch —

When Government Spending Doesn’t Get Cut, Services Do

As financial strain increases, demand for social services, rental assistance, senior support, food programs, and

emergency housing will grow.

But if the county continues funding political hires rather than safety-net services — while expanding

enforcement — the safety net will thin.

Result: higher foreclosures, more evictions, more homelessness, more crime — the predictable outcome

when prevention is ignored and enforcement accelerates.

7. The Human Cost — Foreclosure, Displacement, Family Breaks,

and Intergenerational Trauma

More bills. More delinquencies. More foreclosures.

Seniors on fixed incomes crushed by utilities, taxes, insurance, healthcare.
Working families one paycheck away from disaster.
Children uprooted from neighborhoods, teachers, friends.
Communities destabilized: vacancies, falling property values, rising crime, weaker cohesion.

This is not speculation — it is sequencing and math.

8. What Should Happen — And What I Expect Will Happen Instead

What responsible leadership should do:

Announce a 12-month moratorium on monitions
Publish a transparency dashboard covering delinquencies, liens, sheriff sales, tax burden, utility impact
Offer income-based relief for households struck by concurrent cost shifts
Freeze political hiring until economic stability returns
Engage the public through plain-language communication, senior outreach, and direct notification

What will likely happen:

Continued tax increases and enforcement
More political hiring
A widening safety-net gap
Foreclosures, evictions, forced relocations
Neighborhood destabilization and rising social service burdens

The spiral will become visible once the evictions begin.

9. The Truthline Warning

The next 12–24 months will not be gradual.
They will be abrupt.

Costs will strike from every direction — taxes, utilities, inflation, enforcement, political overhead — all

converging on households at once.

Failure to demand transparency and relief now will not lead to “more foreclosures.”
It will lead to a structural collapse of local stability — financial, social, and communal.

New Castle County must decide:

a government that protects its people — or one that extracts from them.

And the window to choose is closing fast.

10. Why This Forecast Matters

Delaware’s fiscal alarms are not theoretical. They are already ringing.

The state’s projected $400 million shortfall — even after lawmakers claimed it was “fixed” through

decoupling — still reflects a deeper structural problem: our budget now depends on shifting tax rules, not

sustainable economic growth.

The reassessment has already triggered sharp, widespread increases in residential property taxes, pushing

many homeowners into financial stress before the new round of school referendums and county hikes even

arrives.

The legislative “relief” measures passed in 2025 — payment plans, split-rates, extended appeal windows

— were marketed as a safety valve. But none of them reduce the underlying cost burden that is now baked into

Delaware’s tax structure.

At the same time, utilities and infrastructure expansions continue raising costs in ways the public rarely

sees, from data-center energy upgrades to water-system modernization to new transmission lines. Every one

of those capital investments is already scheduled to hit ratepayers in 2026 and beyond.

This is not crisis forecasting.
It is financial reality arriving exactly on schedule — the predictable result of choices made in Dover and

New Castle County over several years, now converging on the same calendar year.

“This isn’t speculation. It’s a matter of timing and math.”

XVI. The Collision Year: What's Coming in 2026, and Why No One in Power Wants to Say It Out Loud

When revenue curves, cost pressures, and political silence all converge on the same year.

There are rare moments in a state’s fiscal history when every line on the graph turns and begins pointing

toward the same year.

Revenue softens. Spending accelerates. Mandatory costs surge. Utilities file for rate increases. School districts

prepare referendums.

Counties bury structural deficits under one-time patches. Governors delay disclosures

until the last possible month.

Eventually, the future stops being theoretical.
It becomes a date on a calendar.

For Delaware, that date is 2026.
And the people in charge already know it.

They simply aren’t saying it out loud.

Households in New Castle County are already absorbing electric-rate hikes, water and sewer increases,

reassessment shock, rising insurance premiums, and a two-year cost-of-living curve that has outrun wage

growth. But next year adds something different — something larger.

The tax wave.
Not one tax.
Not one district.
A statewide cascade.

What follows is not crisis forecasting.
It is financial convergence — arriving exactly on schedule.

“Some years bring challenges. 2026 brings the bill for

every decision no one wanted to talk about.”

XVII. The Silence Inside DEFAC

The missing minutes, the hidden spreadsheets, and the

one signal every expert recognizes.

A State Budget Under Strain — And a DEFAC Silence That Raises Alarms

The most telling fiscal data point in Delaware this year is not a number.
It is an absence.

The Delaware Economic & Financial Advisory Council—the body that sets official revenue projections—has not publicly posted minutes

since June 16, 2025.

Since then, nothing.

No July minutes.
No August minutes.
No September minutes.
No October minutes.

Silence isn’t the absence of news.

For a state facing converging fiscal pressures, that silence is the news.

What the Worksheets Show Even Without the Minutes

The October worksheets confirm a troubling pattern:

Corporate income tax revenues are down 46.6% year over year, a drop severe enough to destabilize long-term forecasting.
Personal income tax final payments are down 6.7%, confirming weakness across both high- and moderate-income brackets.
Total spending authority is at $8.752 billion, one of the highest in state history.
Medicaid spending is projected to jump 12.6%, driven by enrollment and healthcare inflation.
Salary and pension costs are growing 6–8% annually, outpacing revenue growth by a wide margin.

This is the classic profile of a state entering structural imbalance:
Mandatory costs rising faster than the revenue base that supports them.

The 98% Appropriation Limit Is No Longer a Guardrail—It’s a Warning Light

Delaware is now operating precariously close to its constitutional spending cap. That means:

There is no room for new spending without cuts or tax increases.
There is no room for economic softness without triggering mid-year adjustments.
There is no margin for error.

States do not typically reach this point overnight.
They reach it through years of incremental overcommitment, quietly absorbed by reserves, federal aid, and optimistic assumptions.

The Missing Minutes Are Not a Technical Delay

When DEFAC stops publishing minutes during a period of revenue softening, expenditure growth, and appropriations pressure, it signals one thing:

The numbers that will eventually surface are politically difficult.

And that means the pressure from Dover will soon turn outward—to counties, school districts, utilities, and local governments.

Because when the State runs out of room, it pushes downward.
And downward means residents.

“In public finance, silence is never neutral. Silence is a warning.”

XVIII. The Math the County Hopes You Never See

Inside the projections that reveal insolvency, structural imbalance, and

the real tax increase ahead.

The New Castle County Tax Hike No One Wants to Admit — But the Numbers No Longer Hide

There is a point when public finance stops being political and becomes mathematical.
New Castle County has crossed that line.

The county’s own August General Fund projections—the most recent set the administration has allowed the public to see—are unmistakable. The structural deficit is now so large, and so deeply embedded in the recurring budget, that a small tax increase cannot fix it.

The problem is not cyclical. It is structural.

The Stabilization Reserve Is Collapsing

According to the August projections:

The Tax Stabilization Reserve begins FY2025 at $72.2 million.
By FY2026, it is nearly cut in half to $35.0 million.
By FY2027 and FY2028, the reserve turns negative—an unambiguous sign of insolvency under any accepted government accounting standard.

A negative reserve is not a warning. It is a fiscal breach.

Revenues Are Falling at the Exact Moment Costs Are Rising

The county’s total revenues decline sharply beginning in FY2027, dropping by more than $30 million in a single year. That kind of contraction is extraordinarily rare for a county government unless revenue bases have been misaligned for years.

Meanwhile, expenditures—particularly personnel, benefits, pensions, and debt service—rise every year in the projection, reaching nearly $290 million by FY2028.

This is the textbook definition of a structural deficit:

Recurring costs rising faster than recurring revenues, with one-time funds masking the imbalance.

By 2027, the Gap Becomes a Chasm

The projected deficits escalate sharply:

FY2025: –$3.4M
FY2026: –$5.6M
FY2027: –$47.9M
FY2028: –$49.2M

There is no scenario where a county can absorb a $50 million recurring deficit without a major tax increase, deep spending corrections, or both.

The Truth: A 15% Increase Doesn’t Solve the Problem

Internal sources say the administration already has the votes for a 15% tax increase.

But the August projections—combined with baseline fiscal modeling—show clearly:

A 15% increase only patches one year.

It does nothing to stabilize FY2027.

Nothing to rebuild reserves.
Nothing to correct personnel escalations.
Nothing to address debt service growth.
Nothing to fix the underlying structural imbalance.

The Real Number Is Far Higher

Based on the trajectory in the county’s own projections, the necessary correction is closer to 40–45% when spread

across multiple years—or a series of double-digit increases that cumulatively reach the same amount.

Whether the administration admits it or not, the numbers already show where this ends.

What’s Coming Is Not a Single Tax Increase—It’s a Multi-Year Revenue Strategy

And unless this is communicated transparently, residents will experience the correction not as a planned policy but as a slow, escalating financial squeeze.

Because the county did not correct the structure when it was possible, the correction arrives late—and lands harder.

“A negative reserve isn’t a red flag. It’s a fiscal breach.”

XIX. The Hidden Payroll Expansions

How political hiring exploded in the shadows—and why it’s now baked into every future budget.

At the exact moment residents are tightening their belts, County Executive Marcus Henry is doing the

opposite.

He is dramatically expanding the number of political appointments — Executive Assistants (EA's)

— dispersing them across departments under shifting titles, making the true count difficult to track.

A Political Payroll Explosion — Hidden in Plain Sight

In the past year, New Castle County saw one of the most dramatic increases in non-merit, exempt political hires in county history:

Former County Executive Tom Gordon averaged ~14 Executive Assistants (EA's)
Former County Executive Matt Meyer reportedly grew to ~32 EA's by the end of his term
County Executive Marcus Henry has reportedly hired 48 EA's in his first year alone

That is a 50% increase over Meyer
and more than triple the Gordon baseline.

These are not low-level coordinators.
They are high-salary political appointees.

1. Executive Assistant (EA) Salary Levels: Hidden Managerial Pay

Most Henry-appointed EA's reportedly start at:

Pay Grade 34 — $128,000 to $150,000 per year + benefits

Equivalent to:

Division Managers
Human Resources Managers
Technical supervisors with decades of tenure

Except these roles are political, not professional or merit-based.

And unlike merit employees, they can be:

hired without competition,
placed anywhere,
assigned titles at will,
moved between departments without transparency, and
terminated at any time.

This is the most expensive, least accountable labor category in county government.

Yet the Checkbook Presentation never disclosed any of it.

2. Ghost Titles, Obscured Assignments, and Swelling Departmental Staff

Internal sources report:

The General Manager of Public Works — historically with 0 EA's — now has 4 political EA's beneath him.
Several EA's are given managerial-sounding titles, making the EA count difficult to track.
Some EA's appear embedded in operational units, blurring the lines between political staff and civil service.
Organizational charts provided to Council do not reflect true EA placement.

This erosion of transparency makes it nearly impossible for elected officials — let alone residents — to understand how much of the workforce is now political patronage.

3. The Grant Problem — When Short-Term Dollars Fund Long-Term Payroll

Internal accounts indicate that grant funds may be used to support portions of these political roles and other operational functions.

If accurate, this is fiscally dangerous.

Federal and state grants are:

temporary,
restricted in purpose, and
subject to audit risk.

Using grants to support:

permanent staff,
recurring operations, or
political appointments

creates a future funding cliff the county is not prepared for.

When grants expire, the payroll remains.
The costs shift to the General Fund.

And the “sudden” need for tax increases becomes politically inevitable.

This is exactly how structural deficits are born.

4. Payroll Growth → Budget Pressure → Foreclosure Expansion → Tax Hikes

These are not separate issues.

They form a closed fiscal loop:

Political payroll expands
Structural deficit grows
County exhausts monitions budget by October
Foreclosure funding increases ($300,000 in Ordinance 25-142)
Updated financial projections withheld
Public kept uninformed
Tax increases prepared (15% publicly, 43% privately)
Residents bear the consequences

The quiet expansion of political hiring is not administrative trivia.
It is the financial fuse that leads directly to taxpayer pain.

This is now the largest political payroll in county history.

This is how structural deficits are built:

Not through one reckless decision,
but through dozens of small, hidden, permanent ones.

Every Executive Assistant added today becomes a cost carried into every budget for the next 20 years —

salary, benefits, pension obligations, and the ripple effect on department hierarchies.

You cannot fix a structural deficit when you are still expanding its structure.

“Structural deficits aren’t born from one decision

— but from a hundred hidden ones.”

XX. A Decade of Financial Drift

Tracing a fiscal pattern that began years ago—and now reaches its breaking point.

The extraordinary session Governor Matt Meyer convened for the General Assembly on November 13, 2025 — citing a projected $400

million shortfall over three years — was not the discovery of a crisis.

It was the unveiling of a trajectory he helped create.

The Governor’s Fiscal Pattern — And What It Means for 2026

The cause he gave publicly was federal tax changes.
But the deeper pattern is long-standing—and familiar.

1. The Pattern Is Clear and Documented

During his tenure as County Executive:

He raised county taxes 15% in 2018.
He spent aggressively during revenue peaks.
He received unprecedented federal windfalls—$322 million in CARES Act funds and $108 million in ARPA funds—yet did not treat them as one-time relief.
He successfully pushed for unilateral control over federal funds, an approach that bypassed normal budget oversight.
Spending growth continued to exceed sustainable levels.

Now, as Governor, the trajectory has scaled upward:

State spending is at historic highs.
Delaware is near the 98% appropriation limit.
Medicaid, pensions, and personnel costs are rising faster than revenue.
Corporate and personal income tax lines are softening simultaneously.
The State is absorbing new capital pressures from transportation, infrastructure, and energy costs.

2. In Public Finance, Patterns Matter

When revenues weaken and costs accelerate, Public finance has only three tools:

Raise taxes
Cut services
Borrow

The pattern suggests he will choose all three — in that order.

This is not a phase.
This is a method.

And 2026 is the year it reaches full pressure.

The Governor’s record shows a repeated reliance on:

Revenue increases
High-expenditure budgets
Strategic borrowing to fill gaps
Avoidance of early structural corrections

None of these choices are inherently reckless—if paired with transparency and long-term planning.

But when revenue softening is met with spending expansion, even small economic shocks can produce large fiscal consequences.

3. That Is Why Delaware’s 2026 Outlook Is Not a Surprise—It’s a Continuation

The extraordinary session did not reveal a new crisis.
It merely pulled back the curtain on a trajectory that has been developing for years.

And unless the underlying pattern changes, the next stage is predictable:

More pressure on counties
More pressure on school districts
More pressure on utilities
More pressure on homeowners
More pressure on residents already taxed by inflation, reassessment, and rising costs

Because when the fiscal structure strains, the burden flows outward until it reaches the only place left:

the people.

“This wasn’t a sudden crisis. It was a pattern unfolding in plain sight.”

XXI. Where it Lands: The Year the System Collides With the Kitchen Table

The stacking costs, compounding pressures, and unavoidable squeeze facing Delaware households.

For families, the crisis will not arrive in a single bill.

It will arrive as a stacking effect — one cost layered over another until the household becomes the pressure point for

every level of government.

In the same fiscal cycle, residents will likely face:

Higher county property taxes
Higher school taxes
Multiple school referendums
Higher electric, water, and wastewater rates
Increased state fees and service charges
Potential statewide tax adjustments
Higher insurance premiums
Rising mortgage escrows
Rising credit-card interest
The lingering impact of reassessment
Stagnant wage growth

To a financial expert, this is called a simultaneous fiscal-impact year.

To a household, it feels like a tightening vise.

1. What This Means for Households in 2026 — The Year the System Collides With the Kitchen Table

The fiscal models for 2026 all converge on the same result:

Delaware households are on the front line of a statewide correction that has been building for years.

For most residents, the crisis will not arrive in a single bill, budget, or announcement.

It will arrive as a stacking effect — one cost layered on top of another, until the household balance sheet becomes the pressure point for every level of government.

2. County Property Taxes Will Rise

New Castle County’s structural deficit — approaching $50 million annually in the projections — guarantees a significant tax increase.

The only unknown is the timing and the size. Whether policymakers admit it or not, the math is already done.

3. School Taxes Will Rise — Across Multiple Districts

School districts face:

Expiring federal relief funds,
Rising special education costs,
Contractual wage growth,
Facility pressure, and
Major HVAC, safety, and capital needs.

Referendums are not a possibility.
They are an inevitability.

And they will come in clusters.

4. Utility Rates Will Rise

Electric, water, and wastewater utilities are already implementing or requesting increases tied to:

Grid modernization,
Transmission upgrades,
Water tower construction,
Pipeline replacement, and
Regional energy constraints.

These costs are guaranteed, and they compound the property-tax effects.

5. State Fees and Service Charges Will Rise

When a state approaches its 98% appropriation limit, the pressure moves toward “non-tax revenue”:

DMV fees
Court fees
Environmental and permit fees
Professional licensing charges
Agency surcharges

These are politically quieter but financially significant.

6. A Statewide Tax Adjustment Is Increasingly Likely

If DEFAC’s revenue lines continue to weaken — particularly corporate and personal income tax — statewide adjustments become the path of least resistance.

7. Insurance, Escrows, and Cost of Living Will Rise

Households are already absorbing:

Double-digit insurance increases,
Higher escrow requirements,
Inflation in essentials, and
Rising interest on credit cards, auto loans, and personal debt

8. And It All Hits in the Same Fiscal Cycle

This is not a single-issue problem.

It is systemic convergence — the moment when overlapping government budgets shift their shortfalls onto the same residents at the same time.

For financial experts, this is called a simultaneous fiscal impact year.
For households, it will feel like a tightening vise.

This is the moment when government imbalances cease being institutional problems and become personal

ones.

“Fiscal crises don’t hit governments first. They hit families.”

XXII. The Path Forward — And the Path We're Actually On

What responsible leadership would do—and what will happen instead if the silence continues.

1. What Ours Still Has Not Done

A financially responsible government begins with one principle:
Tell people the truth early enough that they can protect themselves.

Delaware’s residents are not facing a surprise.

They are facing the cumulative results of years of delayed disclosures, underreported trends, and optimistic budgeting.
A government committed to fiscal integrity would take the following steps:

2. Publish Full, Timely Forecasts

Not slide decks, summaries, or partial projections — but the full revenue and expenditure models, with assumptions clearly stated. The county’s missing September and October forecasts are not a clerical oversight; they are a visibility gap at the worst possible moment.

3. Restore DEFAC Transparency

With no public minutes since June, Delawareans cannot see:

revenue movement,
corporate tax volatility,
PIT decline,
mandated-cost escalation, or
short-term vs. long-term outlooks.

This silence leaves residents financially exposed.

4. Reduce Political Hiring Before Raising Taxes

When county executives add dozens of high-salary EA appointments — some at managerial pay grades — while forecasting deficits and contemplating tax increases, it signals a government out of alignment with its people.

5. Warn Residents Before the Bills Arrive

Reassessment changed the foundation of every property-tax bill in Delaware.

Residents deserved clear communications, adjustment tools, income-based impact guides, and year-ahead warnings.

6. Coordinate Across Governments

The State, counties, school districts, and utilities should publicly map out the combined cost impacts of 2026.
Without coordination, residents experience the crisis as personal failure rather than systemic failure.

7. Move From One-Time Fixes to Structural Planning

Federal relief, reserve draws, and incremental hiring freezes mask the underlying imbalance.
Responsible governance requires long-term structural correction — not cosmetic adjustments.

Residents should not be learning about fiscal stress only after budgets are introduced.
They should hear the truth before the financial collision occurs.

Because informed people can prepare.

Uninformed people get blindsided.

8. What Will Actually Happen — Unless the Public Insists on Better

If the current trajectory continues:

Blame will flow downward:
Washington → Dover → Counties → Schools → Utilities → Residents
Key spreadsheets will stay behind closed doors until votes are secured.
Political payrolls will grow while essential services are squeezed.
Spring 2026 will bring the first tax increase — quietly.
Summer and fall will bring:
- Additional referendums
- Utility rate hikes
- State fee adjustments
- Higher escrows
- More “unexpected conditions”
The official narrative will be identical everywhere:
“We had no choice.”

But public finance experts know the truth:

Choices created this collision year.
Choices delayed disclosures.
Choices expanded political payrolls.
Choices avoided early correction.
And choices pushed the burden onto the people.

9. The Public Still Has the Power to Change the Outcome

If residents demand transparency, structural fixes, real spending discipline, and early warnings rather than late excuses, 2026 can still become a year of correction instead of crisis.

But without pressure, the collision will arrive just as the math predicts:

all at once.

“2026 isn’t a bad year coming —

it is the year when every bill comes due, and every excuse dries up.”

XXIII. The CheckBook Illusion

When a government presentation reveals less about its finances than about what it’s trying to hide.

1. What the County Told You — And What the Numbers Actually Say

When New Castle County officials presented their “Checkbook Presentation” to Council, it was framed as transparency: a clean snapshot of spending, revenue, and fiscal health.

But fiscal experts know that transparency is not just what you show — it’s what you choose not to show.

And in that presentation, several omissions and selective framings distort the real financial picture the county is facing.

This is the forensic comparison.

2. The Presentation Treated August Projections as “Stable.” The Numbers Say Otherwise.

The August 2025 General Fund projections — the most recent posted — reveal structural stress that the Checkbook deck glosses over:

• Projected expenditures outpace projected revenues by tens of millions

Yet the Checkbook slides implied routine, manageable variance.

In reality, the county is running a deficit trend that, according to one top finance expert, requires a 43% tax increase to stabilize — even before seeing September, October, and November projections.

• Mandatory costs (pensions, healthcare, step increases) are rising faster than base revenue

The Checkbook deck never discloses that personnel-driven inflation is outpacing revenue growth by 2–3 percentage points annually — a guaranteed widening gap.

• Fund balances appear healthy because the presentation relies on “total funds,” not recurring revenue

One-time sources and federal remnants artificially inflate apparent stability.

This is the same tactic states use when they want to appear solvent without acknowledging structural imbalance.

3. The Presentation Ignores the EA (Exempt Employee) Explosion

Nothing in the Checkbook slides discloses:

A reported 48 Executive Assistants hired under County Executive Marcus Henry
At salary levels equivalent to Pay Grade 34 managers ($128k–$150k + benefits)
A fourfold increase from the Gordon administration
A one-third increase from the Meyer administration

The cost impact?

Millions — not one-time, not optional, but permanently baked into the operating budget.

The omission is glaring.

You cannot present a full “checkbook” when the largest new line item — political payroll expansion — is absent from the page.

4. The Presentation Does Not Reveal Use of Grant Funds to Support the Operating Budget

Multiple internal sources indicate that grant funds — including federal and state program dollars — are being used to offset operational needs.

This practice:

Creates dependency,
Masks structural deficits, and
Sets the county up for shortfalls when grants expire.

The Checkbook deck makes no distinction between recurring revenue and temporary backfills.

For fiscal experts, that is not transparency — it is camouflage.

5. The Presentation Excludes September and October Forecasts Which Should Have Been Posted

Council received no updated General Fund projections for:

September 2025
October 2025

Both were missing from the public website.
Both were missing from the Checkbook Presentation.

And yet these are precisely the months where:

Reassessment fallout became visible
Delinquency numbers accelerated
Utility rate increases were announced
Signals for a tax increase would have sharpened

Leaving them out is not accidental.
It’s strategic omission at a moment when residents deserved clarity.

6. The Presentation Frames the Budget as “On Track.” The Data Shows a Government Preparing to Extract From Residents.

The Checkbook deck offers a tone of routine financial management.

But the underlying data — when compared to fiscal standards — signals:

structural imbalance,
overspending,
expanding political payrolls,
reliance on one-time funds,
rising mandatory personnel costs,
shrinking reserves, and
an impending tax increase far beyond 15%.

The presentation’s greatest misrepresentation is not in what it says,
but in what it refuses to say:

New Castle County is facing a fiscal cliff, and households will be asked to pay for it.

“Transparency isn’t what you show —

it’s what you refuse to put on the page.”

XXIV. What This Investigation Reveals About Power, Responsibility, and the Future of New Castle County

The moment when the numbers stop whispering and begin to expose a system

built on avoidance, omission, and political comfort.

There comes a moment in every community when the truth stops whispering and begins to roar.

This report is that moment.

Because when you lay out the facts — the reassessment shock, the monition funding, the missing projections, the expansion o

f political payrolls, the silence from DEFAC, the statewide shortfall, the rising utilities, the referendums, the unposted financials,

the masked deficits, the vanishing transparency, and the growing distance between government and the governed

— a single picture emerges:

Delaware is heading into the most financially punishing year residents have faced in a generation.

And instead of leveling with people, too many leaders chose to level at them.

For years, county and state officials told residents:

“You won’t feel it.”
“We’re prepared.”
“We’re protecting you.”
“We’ll update you soon.”
“Everything is on track.”

But the numbers never said that.
The forecasts never said that.
The auditors never said that.
The experts never said that.

Only the politicians did.

This investigation reveals something deeper than a policy failure.

It reveals a breach — a fundamental break between what government expects from its people and what its people can realistically bear.

Because a government that accelerates foreclosure funding during a housing crisis, that hides updated forecasts, that expands political hiring while preparing tax increases, that masks structural deficits with federal money, and that announces shortfalls only after they’ve grown too large to hide — is not serving its residents.

It is using them.

And here is the truth that power never wants spoken aloud:

A county that prepares itself for crisis but does not prepare its people for crisis is a county that has forgotten who it exists to serve.

This report is not a warning.
It is a map.
A roadmap of how we arrived here, what is coming next, and why residents must be armed with the truth before the next wave hits.

Because the storm is not theoretical.
It is already forming.

And Delaware has two choices:

Face it openly — or pretend it isn’t coming until the water is already at the door.

The Truthline exists for one reason:

to ensure Delaware never again faces a crisis it wasn’t told about.

This is the beginning of accountability — not the end.

More Truthline reports are coming.
More receipts.
More analysis.
More sunlight.

Because once the truth is spoken clearly enough, power has no choice but to respond.

And this time, the people will be ready.

“A government that prepares itself for crisis but not its people isn’t protecting the public — it’s using them.”

XXV. EA Hiring Inflation & The Grant Dependency Problem

How political hiring ballooned in the shadows, and how grant dollars became the quiet fuel of a growing structural deficit.

How New Castle County Quietly Built a Political Payroll While Claiming

Fiscal Distress

When a government tells taxpayers it must raise their taxes, freeze their programs, or foreclose on their properties, the first place any responsible public finance professional looks is payroll — the largest and least flexible component of any county budget.

What we found is staggering.

1. A Political Payroll Explosion — Hidden in Plain Sight

In the past year, New Castle County saw one of the most dramatic increases in non-merit, exempt political hires in county history:

Former Exec Tom Gordon averaged ~14 Executive Assistants (EAs)
Former Exec Matt Meyer reportedly grew to ~32 EAs by the end of his term
County Executive Marcus Henry has reportedly hired 48 EAs in his first year alone

That is a 50% increase over Meyer
and more than triple the Gordon baseline.

These are not low-level coordinators.
They are high-salary political appointees.

EA Salary Levels: Hidden Managerial Pay

Most Henry-appointed EAs reportedly start at:

Pay Grade 34 — $128,000 to $150,000 per year + benefits

Equivalent to:

Division Managers
Human Resources Managers
Technical supervisors with decades of tenure

Except these roles are political, not professional or merit-based.

And unlike merit employees, they can be:

hired without competition,
placed anywhere,
assigned titles at will,
moved between departments without transparency, and
terminated at any time.

This is the most expensive, least accountable labor category in county government.

Yet the Checkbook Presentation never disclosed any of it.

2. Ghost Titles, Obscured Assignments, and Swelling Departmental Staff

Internal sources report:

The General Manager of Public Works — historically with 0 EAs — reportedly now has 5 political EAs beneath him.
Several EAs are given managerial-sounding titles, making the EA count difficult to track.
Some EAs appear embedded in operational units, blurring the lines between political staff and civil service.
Organizational charts provided to Council do not reflect true EA placement.

This erosion of transparency makes it nearly impossible for elected officials — let alone residents — to understand how much of the workforce is now political patronage.

3. The Grant Problem — When Short-Term Dollars Fund Long-Term Payroll

Internal accounts indicate that grant funds may be used to support portions of these political

roles and other operational functions.

If accurate, this is fiscally dangerous.

Federal and state grants are:

temporary,
restricted in purpose, and
subject to audit risk.

Using grants to support:

permanent staff,
recurring operations, or
political appointments

creates a future funding cliff the county is not prepared for.

When grants expire, the payroll remains.
The costs shift to the General Fund.
And the “sudden” need for tax increases becomes politically inevitable.

This is exactly how structural deficits are born.

4. Payroll Growth → Budget Pressure → Foreclosure Expansion → Tax Hikes

These are not separate issues.
They form a closed fiscal loop:

Political payroll expands
Structural deficit grows
County exhausts monitions budget by October
Foreclosure funding increases ($300,000 in Ordinance 25-142)
Updated financial projections withheld
Public kept uninformed
Tax increases prepared (15% publicly, 43% privately)
Residents bear the consequences

The quiet expansion of political hiring is not administrative trivia.
It is the financial fuse that leads directly to taxpayer pain.

“When permanent payroll is built on temporary money,

the cliff isn’t a surprise — it’s a certainty.”

XXVI. Pay-Grade Creep, Headcount Fog, and a Budget Built on Payroll

Inside the slow, ordinance-by-ordinance escalation of salaries, classifications, and managerial tiers that now dominate the county budget.

When people hear “tax increase,” they’re told it’s about services. Police. Paramedics. Parks.

But inside New Castle County’s books, one driver towers above the rest: payroll. Salaries,

benefits, and a quiet but relentless inflation of pay grades for upper-tier positions.

The latest pay-plan ordinances for non-union classified employees read like a staircase that only

goes up.

Mid- and upper-management roles in pay grades 26–36 now sit in bands that begin in

the high $50,000s and climb well into the $150,000–$180,000 range before benefits are even

added.

Positions like Community Services Administrator, Human Resources Administrator,

Land Use Administrator, Senior Fiscal and Policy Analyst, Accounting and Fiscal

Manager, Finance Legal Officer, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Public Works Senior

Manager, and First Assistant County Attorney are all slotted into these top grades.

At Pay Grade 34, for example, the salary band runs roughly from the mid-$80,000s to over

$140,000. At Grade 35 and 36, it steps up again — topping out in the low- to mid-$150,000s at

Step 11.

Once you add health care, pensions, and other benefits, the real cost of a single senior

manager or “special project” role can easily approach or exceed $200,000 a year.

And these are just the non-union classified positions. Executive-level appointees and Executive

Assistants (EA’s) — many of whom are reportedly placed at these same high pay grades — sit

on top of that structure, creating a payroll tier that functions more like a small private executive

suite than a lean public operation.

The trend isn’t accidental. The pay plan shows a long trail of revisions — multiple upward

adjustments over just a few years, driven by a string of ordinances: effective dates and

“Revised” notations stretching from 2022 through February 2025, including a fresh move to push

the Payroll Supervisor from Pay Grade 29 to 30.

25-119_EXHIBITS A-C_PAY PLAN AN…

Each revision by itself looks technical; taken together, they form a pattern: inch the pay grades

up, step by step, ordinance by ordinance.

Meanwhile, classification changes at Pay Grade 28 and above — like the updated specification

for Assistant County Attorney II — are brought to Council with a familiar line: “no

discernable fiscal impact.”

R25-180_Revision to Assistant C…

But every time you widen duties, upgrade the class spec, or re-benchmark a role against higher

peers, you increase the pressure to move that salary higher at the next negotiation, the next step,

the next “equity” adjustment. It’s fiscal impact by slow drip.

“Fiscal impact doesn’t always arrive with a headline

— sometimes it comes one pay-grade at a time.”

XXVII. How Many Employees? The Question the Documents Don't Answer

The missing headcount, the unseen breakdowns, and the payroll opacity that

keeps residents from knowing what they’re truly funding.

Here’s the central problem: the public can see the pay ranges, but not the full headcount

picture.

The FY2026 Approved Operating Budget shows departmental “Full-Time Positions” and salary

totals that confirm how dominant payroll is. In the Public Safety Department, for example, the

FY2026 budget lists:

729 full-time positions
Salaries & Wages: approximately $78.2 million
Benefits: approximately $43.4 million

Out of a roughly $145.5 million Public Safety budget.

00 FY2026 APPROVED OPERATING BU…

In plain language: more than 80%+ of that department’s cost is people — not equipment, not

fuel, not training. People. And as the number of positions rises (from 711 to 729 full-time over

the recent budget cycles), the salary and benefit load rises with it.

00 FY2026 APPROVED OPERATING BU…

We see similar dynamics elsewhere. The Human Resources unit itself shows shifting full-time

equivalents — from 23 positions to 24, then down to 18.85 after internal transfers — while its

budget climbs over time.

00 FY2026 APPROVED OPERATING BU…

What we don’t see, anywhere in the ordinances or exhibits the Henry Administration makes available, is a single, simple, current count of:

Total County employees, across all funds and departments
Total merit (classified) employees
Total non-merit / appointed employees, including Executive Assistants

The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) tells us that a Full-Time County

Employee Positions by Function/Program table exists (Exhibit F-1), but the ordinances and

pay-plan exhibits the Henry Administration provides stop short of giving the public an easy, consolidated number for

total headcount — and completely omit any breakdown between merit and non-merit/appointed

staff.

FY2024 ACFR New Castle County

From the documents made available by the Henry Administration — 25-114, 25-119 and their Exhibits, the Assistant County

Attorney II revision, and the budget extracts — we can infer that:

Payroll and benefits are the dominant cost drivers in the General Fund.
Senior and managerial pay bands have been repeatedly revised upward over the last several years.

25-119_EXHIBITS A-C_PAY PLAN AN…

New, higher-paid roles have been layered into departments that previously had few or no such positions (e.g., new managers, program administrators, and “special project” titles).

“If a government can’t say how many people it employs,

it isn’t transparent — it’s hiding the most expensive truth it has.”

XXVIII. Miracles Happen — They Do

Why preparation is leadership, and why silence from those in power

is not an oversight — but a choice.

But hoping for one is not a strategy, and it’s certainly not leadership.

I decided I’d rather see people prepared than blindsided again.

Because what I’m seeing — and what other experts are seeing — isn’t guesswork.
It’s experience.
It’s data.
It’s the math.
It’s the trend line that never lies.

And the truth is this:

The same elected officials who stayed silent before — who didn’t warn you about reassessment,

who didn’t explain the impact, who didn’t show you the numbers when they had them —
still aren’t telling you what’s coming.

Not last year.
Not this year.
Not even now, as the storm edge is already brushing the coastline.

They should have told you.
They should have prepared you.
They should have given you the information to adjust, plan, and protect your family.

But they didn’t.
And they still aren’t.

So I will.

Because people deserve a chance to make informed decisions before the bills hit, before the

notices arrive, before the tax hikes are voted on, and before families find themselves one letter

away from losing everything.

You deserve a government that warns you — not one that waits until it’s too late.
You deserve honesty — not quiet calculations behind closed doors.
You deserve preparation — not panic.

You deserve better.

And that’s why more Truthline Reports are coming.
Because someone has to tell the truth before the damage is done — not after.

“Hope is not a plan. And silence is not protection.”

XXIX. THE RECKONING: What Happens When the Truth Comes Home

The moment when the numbers fall away and the question becomes not what happened — but who it happened to.

At the end of every long investigation, there comes a moment when the numbers fall away and

something larger emerges — not a spreadsheet, not a forecast, but a reflection of who we are as a

community and what kind of government we are willing to accept.

This is that moment.

Because when you examine everything laid bare in this report —
the EA hiring spree,
the vanishing financial projections,
the grant dependency,
the hidden deficits,
the reassessment shock,
the foreclosure expansion,
the tax increases being prepared in secret,
the missing DEFAC minutes,
the statewide shortfall,
the silence,
the spin,
and the deliberate decision not to warn the public —

one truth becomes impossible to avoid:

This crisis wasn’t an accident.
It was assembled — piece by piece — in meeting rooms, committee hearings, closed-door

budget sessions, and late-night negotiations where the public wasn’t invited.

And now the bill is coming due.

Not for the people who made the decisions.
Not for the executives who expanded payroll during a deficit.
Not for the agencies that withheld forecasts.
Not for the leaders who built their political empires on borrowed time and borrowed money.

The bill will come to the people who always pay:

the seniors in their homes,
the parents trying to keep up with bills,
the renters one increase away from crisis,
the small business owners absorbing every cost surge,
the families holding on by their fingertips in a county they love.

These residents did not create this collision.
But they are standing directly in its path.

And here is the part that matters most:

It did not have to be this way.

A government that planned ahead,
that communicated honestly,
that limited political payroll,
that respected taxpayer limits,
that anticipated the reassessment shock,
that built safeguards before the crisis —
could have spared thousands of households what is about to come.

But that is not the government New Castle County and Delaware received.

And so this report — this Truthline investigation — becomes more than documentation.
It becomes evidence.
Evidence of how a system failed its people,
and evidence for how the people can change the system.

Because sunlight is not just exposure.
It is leverage.

And once the people know the truth,
everything becomes possible:

accountability,
reform,
fiscal discipline,
transparency,
honest budgeting,
and leadership that remembers who it serves.

This is not the end of the investigation.
It is the beginning of a new era of public awareness.

Because the storm is coming.
But this time —
the people will not be caught unaware.

And that changes everything.

“This crisis wasn’t an accident. It was assembled.”

XXX. The Truthline Promise

To expose what power hides, translate what it distorts, and warn the public

before the damage is done.

Government warned itself.
It just didn’t warn the public.

Truthline exists to close that gap.

To expose what was hidden.
To translate what was distorted.
To show residents what’s happening before it hits their doorstep.

To ensure the machine can no longer operate in the dark.

Because a government that takes homes in silence is a government that has forgotten who it serves.
And a public that knows the truth is a public that can fight back.

Truthline is not here to scare people.
It’s here to prepare them

“Government warned itself. Truthline warns the people.”

XXXI. Epilogue — The Corridor for Collections

A county that fortified its foreclosure machine while its residents were left unprepared — and the truth that once seen, cannot be unseen.

This is not a story about taxes.
It is not a story about budget tables or ordinances.

It is a story about a county that lost its balance —
where government moved faster than the people it serves.

A county that funded its foreclosure pipeline before families even saw their new bills.

A county that expanded monition operations while telling residents they had nothing to fear.

A county whose leaders — past and present — knew the storm was coming and built themselves a sturdier roof while homeowners were still patching holes.

This is not the end of the story.

It is a continuation of the Truthline investigation.

Because storms don’t arrive without warning.

The county warned itself.

It just didn’t warn you.

The public is awake now — and that changes everything.

Because once people see the machine, they can’t unsee it.

And once they understand how power really operates in New Castle County — quietly, in amendments filed

late, in votes taken while the room is distracted, in budget lines hidden inside “routine” items — they begin

to understand something deeper:

The crisis isn’t the reassessment.
The crisis isn’t the data centers.
The crisis isn’t even the foreclosures.

The crisis is a government that stopped protecting its people.

And the remedy is not fear.
Not silence.
Not resignation.

The remedy is truth.

And that is what Truthline was built for.

“The county warned itself. It just didn’t warn you.”

THE RECEIPTS — SOURCES & DOCUMENTS

Below are the consolidated archive of all primary public records, government datasets, worksheets, agendas, minutes, ordinances, financial projections, news articles, internal documents, referenced reports, pictures, videos, screenshots, and website links referenced in this Truthline Investigation Report. Every link is public unless marked as an internal document.

I. County Government Documents

A. Ordinances, Resolutions, Amendments & Budget Actions

Ordinance No. 25-142 — FY2026 Budget Amendment: $300,000 appropriation to Finance for monitions (foreclosure operations).

Document: NCC_O25_142_Monitions.pdf
Ordinance No. 25-142 — FY2026 Budget Amendment Appendix A: $300,000 appropriation to Finance for monitions (foreclosure operations).

Document: NCC_O25_142_Monitions_Appendix A_Exhibits.pdf

3. Ordinance No. 25-119 — Pay Plan revisions for non-union classified employee.

Document: NCC_O25_119_Pay Plan.pdf

4. Ordinance No. 25-119 — Pay Plan revisions for non-union classified employees; Exhibits A–C.

Document: NCC_O25_119_Pay Plan Exhibits.pdf

5. Ordinance No. 25-114 — Salary and pay-grade updates for NCC classified staff.

Document: NCC_O25_114_Salary Plan.pdf

6. Ordinance No. 25-114 — Exhibits: Salary and pay-grade updates for NCC classified staff; Exhibits A-C.

Document: NCC_O25_114_Salary Plan Exhibits A-C.pdf

7. Resolution 25-180 — Revision to Assistant County Attorney II classification specification (Pay Grade 28+).

Document: R25_180_Assistant_Attorney_II.pdf

8. Resolution 25-180 — Revision to Assistant County Attorney II classification specification (Pay Grade 28+); Appendix A Exhibit.

Document: R25_180_Assistant_Attorney_II_Exhibit A_Exhibits.pdf

9. Ordinance 25-101 — To amend New Castle County Code Chapter 40, Article 3, to establish standards for the review, siting, and operation of data centers.
Document: NCC_O25_101_Data Center Guidlines.pdf

10. Ordinance 25-101 — To amend New Castle County Code Chapter 40, Article 3, to establish standards for the review, siting, and operation of data centers.

Document: NCC_O25_101_Data Center Guidelines Exhibits.pdf

11. Floor Amendment Number 1 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101. Introduced by Ms. Kilpatrick

Document: NCCC Floor Amendment Number 1 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101.pdf

12. Floor Amendment Number 2 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101. Introduced by Mr. Toole

Document: NCCC Floor Amendment Number 2 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101.pdf

13. Floor Amendment Number 3 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101. Introduced by Mr. Toole

Document: NCCC Floor Amendment Number 3 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101.pdf

14. Floor Amendment Number 4 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101. Introduced by Mr. Toole.

Document: NCCC Floor Amendment Number 4 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101.pdf

15. Floor Amendment Number 5 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101. Introduced by Mr. Toole

Document: NCCC Floor Amendment Number 5 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101.pdf

16. Floor Amendment Number 6 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101. Introduced by Mr. Toole

Document: NCCC Floor Amendment Number 6 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101.pdf

17. Floor Amendment Number 7 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101. Introduced by Ms. Kilpatrick

Document: Floor Amendment Number 7 to SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 TO °25-101.pdf

18. New Castle County Council Rules: Last Revised August 28, 2025

Document: New Castle County Council_Rules_Last Revised_8-28-2025.pdf

19. New Castle County Council Rule 2.4.2: Floor Amendment Procedure

Document: New Castle County Council_Rule 2.4.2_Floor Amendment Procedure.pdf

B. Budget Books, Financial Projections & Internal Slide Decks

FY2026 Approved Operating Budget — including department-level full-time positions and personnel cost tables.
Document: FY2026_Approved_Operating_Budget.pdf
General Fund Financial Projections (August 2025) — Presented October 14, 2025.
Document:: NCC_Augus 2025_General Fund_Financial Projections.pdf
Missing Projections (December 5, 2025 - Not Posted on NCC Website):
• September 2025 (not posted)
• October 2025 (not posted)
Placeholder for upload: Missing_Projections_Sept_Oct2025.pdf
Checkbook Presentation (Finance Dept.)
Slidedeck: NCC_Checkbook_August 2025 Financial Projections Presentation_10-14-2025.pdf
Budget Presentation Slide Deck(s), FY2025–FY2026
Placeholder: NCC_Budget_Presentations_2025_2026.pdf

C. County Meetings, Testimony, and Statements

Administrative & Finance Committee Meeting — Nov. 18, 2025
(Including David Del Grande’s remarks on monition workloads, code enforcement fees, outside attorneys, and back taxes.)
Video on Webpage (bottom): Admin_Finance_Mtg_11_18_25_Video.pdf
County Council Meeting Agenda — Nov. 18, 2025
Document: Council_Agenda_11_18_25.pdf

D. New Castle County Annual Reports

FY2024 Single Audit Report — Grant Thornton. Document: FY24 Single_Audit.pdf
FY2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) Note: includes F-1 employee counts by function. Document: FY2024_ACFR.pdf
FY2023 Single Audit Report — Grant Thornton. Document: FY23_Single_Audit.pdf
FY2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) Note: includes F-1 employee counts by function. Document: FY2023_ACFR.pdf
FY2022 Single Audit Report — Grant Thornton. Document: FY22_Single_Audit.pdf
FY2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) Note: includes F-1 employee counts by function. Document: FY2022_ACFR.pdf
FY2021 Single Audit Report (including notes on unrecorded bank account). Document: FY21_Single_Audit.pdf
FY2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) Note: includes F-1 employee counts by function. Document: FY2021_ACFR.pdf
FY2020 Single Audit Report (including notes on unrecorded bank account). Document: FY20_Single_Audit.pdf
FY2020 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) Note: includes F-1 employee counts by function. Document: FY2020 CAFR.pdf
CARES ACT Audit Report, November 28, 2023. Document: NCC_CARES_ARPA_Financials.pdf

II. State of Delaware Documents

A. State of Delaware Annual Reports

FY2024 The State of Delaware General Obligation Bonds, Series 2024 — Document: FY2024 DE General Obligation Bonds.pdf
FY2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). Document: FY2024_ACFR.pdf

B. State of Delaware Quarterly & Monthly Reports

FY2024 Quarterly. The State of Delaware — Document: DE.pdf
FY2024 Monthly. The State of Delaware — Document: FY2024.pdf

C. Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Committee (DEFAC)

DEFAC — Last Posted Minutes: June 16, 2025
DEFAC Website: https://finance.delaware.gov/financial-reports/defac-revenue-forecast/
Document: DEFAC_Minutes_06_16_2025.pdf
Missing DEFAC Minutes:
• July 2025
• August 2025
• September 2025
• October 2025
Placeholder: Missing_DEFAC_Minutes_July_October_2025.pdf
DEFAC Revenue Worksheet — October 2025
(Showing 46.6% drop in Corporate Income Tax; −6.7% PIT final payments.)
Document: DEFAC_Revenue_Detail_2025_10.pdf
DEFAC Expenditures Worksheet — October 2025
(Medicaid +12.6%; salaries/pensions +6–8%.)
Placeholder: DEFAC_Expenditures_2025_10.pdf
Balance & Appropriations Worksheet — FY2026
Appropriation limit near 98%.
Placeholder: DEFAC_Balance_Appropriations_FY2026.pdf

B. State Legislation Related to Reassessment & Property Tax Structure

House Bill 241 (2025): Multi-Installment Payment Plans
https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=161278
House Bill 242 (2025): Split Tax Rates for Residential & Non-Residential Property
https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=161279
News Articles, The New Journal, WHYY and WDEL. The News Journal: February 15, 2012, "Protesters hit sheriff's foreclosure auctions NCCo no longer sells homes for delinquent taxes", County Executive Paul Clark, Executive Order (2012) — Temporary Hold on Owner-Occupied Tax Foreclosures (Paul Clark); 1. https://www.aclu-de.org/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NewsJournal2152012.pdf; 2. https://www.wdel.com/news/ncco-exec-calls-for-moratorium-on-back-tax-foreclosures/article_6e037adb-22cb-5ec6-9f09-9f14644479da.html#:~:text=Executive%20Paul%20Clark%20is%20moving%20to%20amend,moratorium%20on%20all%20back%20tax%20foreclosures%20so; 3. https://whyy.org/articles/new-castle-county-exec-orders-hold-on-foreclosures-for-back-taxes/
Document: Article: The News Journal_County Executive Paul Clark_Executive Order_Tax Foreclosure_Temporary Hold_2012.pdf
Special Session Materials — Gov. Matt Meyer (Nov. 13, 2025)
Document: Meyer_SpecialSession_2025.pdf

III. Delaware School District Documents

Laurel School District — Board Approval of Feb. 2026 Referendum (Nov. 19, 2025)
https://www.laurel.k12.de.us
Caesar Rodney School District — Feb. 2026 Operating Referendum Documentation
https://www.crk12.org
Delmar School District — Referendum Discussions (2025)
https://www.delmar.k12.de.us
Any additional school district referendum notices (2024–2026)
Placeholder: School_Referendum_Notices_2024_2026.pdf

IV. Foreclosures, Housing & Economic Data

ATTOM Data — U.S. Foreclosure Market Report (Q1 2025)
https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-intelligence/u-s-foreclosure-activity/
ATTOM Data — Delaware Monthly Foreclosure Trends (2024–2025)
https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/foreclosures/
U.S. Census Bureau — Delaware Housing & Economic Indicators (2024–2025)
https://www.census.gov
Delaware Attorney General — Foreclosure Prevention & Resources
https://attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/fraud/protecting-owners/

V. News Reporting & Media Coverage

Spotlight Delaware — “Data-center regulations vote delayed after tense meeting” (Nov. 20, 2025)
https://spotlightdelaware.org/2025/11/20/ncc-data-center-regulations-delayed/
First State Update — Coverage of Nov. 19, 2025 Council Meeting (“prayer, yelling, flipping the bird”)
https://firststateupdate.com
Spotlight Delaware — Hope Center Mold & Hersha Lawsuit (2024)
https://spotlightdelaware.org/2024/09/13/hope-center-mold-concerns/

VII. Internal Sources, Expert Testimony & Professional Assessments

Finance Expert Assessment — NCC may require 40–43% cumulative tax increases to stabilize
Source - Interview: Expert_Assessment_ProjectedTax Impact.pdf
Internal Accounts — EA hiring (48 positions), placement, and pay-grade inflation
Sources - Interviews: EA_Hiring_List_And_Pay Data.pd

VIII. Organizational Charts, Staffing & Compensation

EA Placement Lists (Dept. by Dept., 2024–2025) (Requested but not provided)
Placeholder: EA_Placement_Departments_2024_2025.pdf
Staffing Counts — Merit vs. Non-Merit (Requested but not provided)
Placeholder: NCC_Merit_NonMerit_Counts.pdf
NCC Organizational Charts (Historical vs. Current for each department) (Requested but not provided)
Placeholder: NCC_OrgCharts_Historical_Current.pdf

IX. Additional Supporting Documents & Placeholder System

1. Any relevant photo, screenshot, or direct evidence referenced narratively
Placeholder: Screenshots_Evidence_Collection.pdf

“A miracle may save a community.

But it should never be the government’s strategy.”

Attribution:

All content authored by Karen Hartley-Nagle — Founder & Publisher, The Truthline Network; Editor-in-Chief, Host & Executive Producer, The Truthline (Radio & Live); Former President, New Castle County Council (2016–2024); Founder & CEO, Nexus Innovation Group, LLC.

Excerpts, data, or quotations may be reproduced for noncommercial use with attribution to The Truthline Network and a direct link to the original report. Commercial use or republication requires written permission.

Cite as: Hartley-Nagle, K. (2025, December 5). The Night the Masks Dropped: How New Castle County Quietly Armed Itself for Foreclosure - While The Council Chambers Burned. The Truthline Network. https://www.karenhartleynagle.com/the-night-the-masks-dropped-truthline-network

“Every fiscal collision begins the same way:

not with bad math — but with leaders who hide the math.”

Read full documents → Sources above

Read the Audit Reckoning Series: | Report 1 | Report 2 | Report 3 | Report 4 | Coming Soon: Report 5

“Transparency isn’t charity.

It’s the rent you pay for power.”

DelawareOnline Video Segment_NCCC Meeting_11-18-2025

00:36

22:43

01:59:37

Timeline: 2017-2026
How New Castle County Reached the Breaking Point

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025
January - June

Summer, 2025

August, 2025

October, 2025

November 13, 2025

November 18, 2025

2026 (Projected)

2017

County begins issuing large volumes of 10-Day Demand Letters
Early signs of rising delinquencies ignored
Monition (foreclosure) revenue slowly becomes a normalized revenue stream

2018

Former County Executive Matt Meyer raises county taxes 7.5% (15% tax increase over two years)
Spending outpaces recurring revenue despite federal relief on the horizon
Warning signs of structural imbalance emerge

2019

Former County Executive Matt Meyer raises county taxes 7.5% (15% tax increase over two years)
Spending outpaces recurring revenue despite federal relief on the horizon
Warning signs of structural imbalance emerge

2020

FY2020 Single Audit reveals internal control failures, later discovered - unrecorded bank accounts and Hope Center issues
COVID-era fiscal shock
County receives:
- $322 million CARES Act funding
- $108 million ARPA funding
Council allows the Executive unilateral control (majority votes yes; I vote no)
One-time funds mask long-term structural issues

2021

FY2021 Single Audit reveals internal control failures, later discovered - unrecorded bank accounts and Hope Center issues
County begins relying on federal dollars to stabilize budget rather than reform it
Delinquency pressure increases quietly

2022

FY2022 Single Audit highlights internal control failures, unrecorded bank accounts and Hope Center issues
Fiscal oversight signals grow louder — but publicly downplayed

2023

FY2023 Single Audit highlights internal control failures, unrecorded bank accounts and Hope Center issues
Reassessment process enters volatile phase
Tyler Technologies models raise value concerns
No county-wide homeowner-impact safeguards deployed

2024

FY2024 Single Audit highlights, internal control failures, unrecorded bank accounts and Hope Center issues
Reassessment nearing completion
Early projections show massive residential increases
County leadership fails to communicate or prepare residents

2025

January–June

Reassessment letters arrive
Average residential assessed values jump 477%
Delinquency risk spikes
Delaware begins appearing in top 5 foreclosure rates nationwide
DEFAC last posts public minutes on June 16, 2025
Silence begins

Summer

School districts begin preparing new referendums
Utility companies file for or announce rate increases
County Executive Marcus Henry expands political payroll with 48 EA hires

August

Latest posted General Fund projections (no September/October updates ever posted)
Top finance expert calculates 43% tax increase needed to stabilize operations

October

Council receives General Fund update using August numbers — not current ones
Warning signs obscured
Governor Meyer privately preparing for shortfall disclosure

November 13

Governor Meyer calls extraordinary session:
$400 million state shortfall over 3 years
Blames federal tax-code changes
Spending continues upward

November 18

Chaos in County Council chambers
Data center legislative brawl captures headlines
While public is distracted, Council passes:
Ordinance 25-142 — $300,000 for monitions (foreclosures), 11–1
Finance Director confirms monitions will target:
- back taxes
- liens
- code enforcement fees
- legal fees
Names of law firms not disclosed

2026 (Projected)

County tax increase introduced (likely spring)
Additional school referendums
Utility rate increases compound tax impacts
Delinquency and foreclosure filings spike
State proposes new taxes or fees
Household financial distress becomes widespread

THE NIGHT THE MASKS DROPPED Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis How New Castle County Quietly Armed Itself for Foreclosure — While the Council Chambers Burned and Delaware Braced for Tax Hikes

THE NIGHT THE MASKS DROPPED Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis

​By Karen Hartley-Nagle, Former President, New Castle County Council (2016–2024)​​December 5, 2025 | A Truthline Investigative Report

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​Domus non sunt praeda fisci.

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Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis​

How New Castle County Quietly Armed Itself for Foreclosure —

While the Council Chambers Burned and Delaware Braced for Tax Hikes​​

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I. Prologue — The Room I Know Too Well​​

“A chamber in chaos was the perfect cover. And they used it.” ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

IV. The Reassessment Bomb: How 40 Years Became

One Bill​

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The Day the Math Broke Households

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V. Foreclosure Capital of America​

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1. The Warning Signs State Officials Ignored

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2. What the County Used to Do — Before the Machine Took Over

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3. While Residents Struggled, Delaware Was Already Drowning

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4. “Vacant Properties” — The Lie That Hides the Real Story

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5. One Home. One Family. One System That Failed Them.

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6. The Cost of Losing a Home Is Higher Than the Cost of Saving One

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VI. The Ordinance that Tells the Truth

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How 25-142 Quietly Expanded the Foreclosure Machine

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1. And This Is Where the Story Turns

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2. The Ordinance That Tells the Truth

3. Follow the Numbers — They Tell the Truth

Number 1: $1,964,812

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Number 2: $8,408,571

Number 3: $300,000

4. Inside the Machine

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5. The Night They Slipped It Through

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6. If a Bank Operated Like This, Regulators Would Shut It Down

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VII. Inside the Monitions Machine: Spin, Exceptions, and the Rule​

What They Call “Vacant Properties” — and What It Really Means​​​

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1. Before they were “vacant,” they were homes.

2. What Meyer and Henry Would Say

3. What the County Said — And What It Conveniently Left Out

4. The Spin — And the Truthline Response

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

When the Masks Finally Fell — in Front of the Cameras

1. The meeting began with tension already simmering.

2. Real Leaders Protect People Before the Panic Starts

The Night the Real Power Structure Showed Itself

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How Leadership Ignored the Warnings — and Built a Crisis

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2. What Meyer Should Have Done — And Didn’t

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3. What Henry Should Have Done — And Didn’t

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4. The Failure at the Top: Meyer and Henry

Matt Meyer — The Governor Who Saw the Crisis Coming

and Walked Away

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5. Marcus Henry — The County Executive Who Expanded Enforcement Instead of Relief

6. What This Tells Us About Meyer and Henry

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Because the Crisis Is No Longer Theoretical — It’s Scheduled.

THE NIGHT
THE MASKS DROPPED

Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis
How New Castle County Quietly Armed Itself for Foreclosure —
While the Council Chambers Burned and Delaware Braced for Tax Hikes

THE NIGHT
THE MASKS DROPPED
Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis

By Karen Hartley-Nagle, Former President, New Castle County Council (2016–2024)December 5, 2025 | A Truthline Investigative Report

Domus non sunt praeda fisci.

Delaware's Hidden Fiscal Crisis

While the Council Chambers Burned and Delaware Braced for Tax Hikes

I. Prologue — The Room I Know Too Well

“A chamber in chaos was the perfect cover. And they used it.”

One Bill

V. Foreclosure Capital of America

VII. Inside the Monitions Machine: Spin, Exceptions, and the Rule

What They Call “Vacant Properties” — and What It Really Means

The bills won’t arrive one at a time. They will arrive all at once.