Of the 41 states with a state income tax, 27 states fully exempt military retirement pay from state income taxes and 12 states partially exempt military retirement pay. In 2022, Delaware increased the pension exclusion for military pensioners under 60 to $12,500, and in 2024, Delaware expanded the definition of a United States military pension to include a pension received for an individual’s service in the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service and clarified that the armed forces of the United States includes the Space Force and Coast Guard. This Act phases in, over 3 years, an increased exemption for military pensions from state income taxation, regardless of age, which is currently $12,500, so that in taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2029, the exemption will be $25,000 for all military pensioners.
In 2025, the General Assembly passed House Bill No. 242 (now found at Chapter 135, Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware), allowing school districts located entirely in New Castle County to use different tax rates for residential and non-residential properties. This Act amends the Delaware Code to continue the authority for non-vocational technical school districts in New Castle County to utilize a residential and non-residential tax rate for school tax purposes. Such a split rate may be established or adjusted in the year after a general reassessment or as part of a referendum. The rate must be uniform for each class of property. Under this Act, the non-residential rate must be at least equal to the residential rate and may be no more than 1.85 times the residential rate. For purposes of the split tax rate, a school district must follow the classifications of the county in which the district is located. Under the transition provisions of this Act, a district that initially established split tax rates under the authority of House Bill No. 242, may continue to use those split rates at the same or a lower ratio between residential and non-residential tax rates established in the 2025-2026 tax year. But if a district’s non-residential tax rate for the 2025-2026 tax year was more than 1.85 times the residential tax rate, it must adjust its rates to meet the 1.85 maximum ratio permitted under this Act. The New Castle County Vocational Technical District may not continue the use of different tax rates past the 2025-2026 tax year. The Act also changes the amount a school district must add to its tax rate to account for delinquencies and late payments to “up to 10%” rather than requiring that a school district must add exactly 10% to its tax rate for this purpose. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform this chapter of the Delaware Code to the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and strikes references to the City of Wilmington School District, which no longer exists. It also revises § 1913 of Title 14 to reflect current practice. It strikes an outdated requirement in § 1918 of Title 14 that the school districts deliver a copy of the assessment list to the County along with their tax warrant. This is inconsistent with the role of the school districts and with current practice.
This Act provides supplementary appropriations to certain Grants-in-Aid recipients for Fiscal Year 2027. Section 1 – Government Units and Senior Centers $40,534,269 Section 2 – One-Times and Community Agencies $42,346,157 Section 3 – Fire Companies and Public Service Ambulance Companies $15,541,500 Section 4 – Veterans Organizations $985,125 GRAND TOTAL $99,407,051
HB 500 authorizes the State of Delaware and its transportation authorities to issue bonds and allocate funds for capital projects in fiscal year 2027. The bill allows the state to sell general obligation bonds and the Delaware Transportation Authority to sell revenue bonds to finance infrastructure improvements. It also sets specific rules for how these funds can be spent and reprograms existing money within the state's transportation trust fund. This legislation directly impacts the state's budget and the funding available for transportation construction and upgrades.
This Act adds a new paragraph (c) to § 137 of Title 16, which provides that the Attorney General shall use the Delaware Health Fund to enforce and litigate the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and the 2018 Non-Participating Manufacturers (NPM) Adjustment Settlement Agreement (NPMSA) between the State and the tobacco manufacturers pursuant to 16 Del. C. § 137 and 29 Del. C. chs. 60C and D. This Act also adds a new paragraph (i) to § 137, which provides that the Department of Health and Social Services, in consultation with the Division of Public Health, shall administer a competitive grant program to make recommendations for the expenditure of money appropriated from the Delaware Health Fund in accordance with the procedure set forth in paragraph (i) to make recommendations for the award of grants to private organizations, consistent with the purposes and criteria in § 137. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act creates a film production tax credit. It requires companies to obtain, at their own expense, an independent audit certifying eligible expenditures. The audit must be submitted to the Division of Small Business for approval and allocation of credits. The credit is nonrefundable, transferable, and may be carried forward for up to 5 years. The credit may be applied against personal income tax, corporate income tax, bank franchise tax, and insurance premiums tax. All credit transfers must be approved by the Division of Small Business. This Act further authorizes necessary data sharing among agencies. Applicants and transferees consent to disclosure of credit amounts by virtue of applying or receiving a transfer. This Act also grants regulatory authority to the Division of Small Business and the Secretary of State to administer the annual credit cap; prioritize and manage awards; and issue reports relating to awards and utilization with input from relevant state agencies. The Division of Small Business may create alternative audit procedures for small businesses where a full audit would be prohibitively expensive. This Act sunsets on June 30, 2031, and no applications may be submitted after that date.
This Substitute for House Bill No. 376 removes provisions in the existing Town of Millville Charter that have been preempted or otherwise regulated by State law and makes technical changes. The original Bill reorganizes the Town Charter’s sections into corresponding articles, adds a preamble, and modernizes wording. Also, the Bill removes sections related to a Town-only assessment process, given the Town’s use of county assessments and adds a property tax cap of 3% of the total assessed value in the Town. The municipal election process is amended to include an ultimate tie-breaking mechanism.
This bill authorizes a one-time funding allocation of approximately $146.2 million to the Office of Management and Budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027. The money is designated to cover specific, temporary expenses identified by that agency. The legislation has been approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and is now ready for final passage.
This bill allocates state funds to cover government operations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, directly affecting all state agencies and departments. It establishes specific rules and limits on how these funds can be spent and updates related state laws to reflect these financial constraints. The legislation has been passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, moving it closer to becoming law.
This Act recognizes that the Public Education Funding Committee’s (PEFC) recommended hybrid model formula to determine public education funding is good public policy and that implementation of the hybrid model should not be delayed any longer than absolutely necessary. As such, this Act provides authority for the Department of Education (Department) to begin making the changes to systems that are necessary to implement the hybrid model for Fiscal Year 2028. This Act also encourages that, in collaboration with the PEFC, the Department incorporate elements of the hybrid model in the development of the Governor’s Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 2028 for consideration by the 154th General Assembly. However, during this transition, a school district or charter school should not receive a state appropriation for Fiscal Year 2028 that is lower than the amount that school received in Fiscal Year 2027. The PEFC was established under Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 201 (152nd General Assembly) on June 27, 2024, and then re-established under House Concurrent Resolution No. 2 (153rd General Assembly) on January 21, 2025, to conduct a comprehensive review of public education funding for all students and populations served by school districts and charter schools (public schools) and develop a roadmap of recommendations to implement improvements to the public education funding system. The PEFC’s recommends adopting a new public education funding framework, known as the “hybrid model”, that combines the current, resource-based funding formula with a student-based, weighted funding model. The hybrid model will improve equity in public school funding and facilitate gains in student achievement by increasing flexibility in how public schools may use appropriated money. The PEFC recommendations include accountability measures as an important balance to the increased flexibility and that the equalization formula must be modernized.
