10A — April 12 - 25, 2019 — Appraisal — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
A ppraisal
he ACLU of Dela- ware, on behalf of De l awa r e ans f o r By Alexander D. Knight, MAI, AI-GRS, Delaware Chapter of the Appraisal Institute Statewide real property reassessment may be in Delaware’s future! T
low-income and non-white students experience mean- ingful disparities in resource allocation sufficient that af- fects the adequacy of their education. According to the Delaware ACLU, “instead of focusing on how we should fund schools” the focus is “on what high-poverty schools require to successfully edu- cate and prepare all students for successful lives and ca- reers.” Educational resources and their allocation are deter- mined by the current assess- ment system in the state.
The ACLU of Delaware sum- marizes the issue: “There are also fewer resources avail- able to schools because of the failure to reassess prop- erty values for more than 30 years. The failure … means that the underlying school tax base has remained flat for decades while the cost of running schools has risen substantially due to inflation and increased enrollment.” Vice Chancellor Travis Laster denied a motion to dismiss the suit in late 2018, and indicated that legal teams should be ready to
argue how the state assesses property taxes. In a twist, in January of 2019 the City of Wilmington joined the suit against the government of- ficials. Wilmington does not have its own school district, but is divided between mul- tiple County districts. Ac- cording to Delaware Public Media, “the City’s primary concern is not schools— it’s tax revenue. …The City ar- gues the County’s failure to do a general property tax re- assessment for 36 years has had an ‘irreparable’ impact on City revenue.”
The likely statewide reas- sessment in Delaware has the potential to create many opportunities for valuation and legal professionals prac- ticing in the First State. On May 2, the chapter joins the Delaware Real Es- tateWomen (DREW) and the Delaware Satellite Council of the Urban Land Institute Philadelphia. Presenters include Dan Blevins, principal planner, WILMAPCO; Dave Gula, senior planner, WILMAP- CO; and Michael J. Hare, executive vice president for development, BPG. Change is constant and there is plenty going on in North Wilmington. Concord Pike traffic counts are in excess of 55,000 vehicles per day and, even with economic downturns, the corridor has maintained its competitive- ness as a prime retail and office location. Planners for the Wilmington Area Plan- ning Council (WILMAPCO) will discuss findings of their recent commissioned land use assessment of the Con- cord Pile corridor. Mr. Hare from BPG will speak about the background and phased redevelopment of the Con- cord Plaza office park into a mixed-use walkable develop- ment with a mix of residen- tial, ground level retail, and office uses. In addition, there will be a tour of the Concord Plaza and the recently con- structed apartments as we discuss these new real estate ventures. The panelists will also discuss the following announced large-scale de- velopments happening along Route 202, including: • Concord Plaza (devel- oped by BPG) • Avenue North (developed by Delle Donne and Associ- ates, Inc.) • Columbia Place (devel- oped by the Reybold Group) • Brandywine Country Club’s proposed redevelop- ment • Proposed sale and re- development of the Widner Law School campus. The event begins at 4pm, held at the Concord Plaza, 3575 Silverside Rd., inWilm- ington. On-site happy hour at El Camino to follow! Alexander D. Knight, MAI, AI-GRS is president of the Delaware Chapter of the Appraisal Institute.
Educational Opportuni- ty and the D e l a w a r e N A A C P , f i l e d s u i t a g a i n s t G o v e r n o r Carney, Ed- ucation Sec-
Alexander Knight
retary Bunting, and State Treasurer Simpler, as well as tax collectors from each of the three counties. The basis for the lawsuit is that
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