8.1 Board of Assessment (taken from Town Code) 

8.1.1 Appointment, Indefinite Term.  The Mayor may with the advice and consent of a majority of the entire Council, appoint a Board of Assessment composed of three (3) members, each of whom shall be domiciled within the corporate limits of the Town, and who shall serve for an indefinite term.   

8.1.2 Oath, Duties, Compensation. The Board of Assessment shall be sworn or affirmed

by the Mayor of the Town of Bethany Beach, or by a Justice of the Peace, or Town Alderman, to perform their duties diligently, with fidelity and without favor to the best of their ability, knowledge, and judgment. It shall be the duty of the Board of Assessment to make a fair and impartial assessment of property subject to taxation situate within the limits of the Town of Bethany Beach and to perform such other duties with reference thereto as shall be prescribed from time to time by the Town Council. The compensation to be by them received for the performance of their duties and the hiring of employees to assist them in the performance of their duties, shall be fixed by and subject to the approval of the Town Council.

8.1.3 Professional Assessors to Assist. In addition to the appointed Board of

Assessment, it shall be within the discretion of the Council to appoint a professional assessor to assist the Board of Assessment in performing the duties of the office to which they were appointed, but the Board of Assessment shall in all instances be responsible for making the final determination.

8.1.4 Adoption of Sussex County Assessments. The Town Council may adopt the assessment of Sussex County for any or all property located within the corporate limits of the Town of Bethany Beach, in lieu of making its own independent assessment and  valuation, anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding. In such event, the assessed values established by Sussex County shall be conclusive for purposes of levying Town taxes, and the Town Council shall have no authority to hear appeals (under § 8.3) regarding same. If the Town Council elects to adopt the Sussex County Assessments, only this section and § 8.2.4 of §§ 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3 shall have effect; but the Town Council will have authority to consider appeals concerning any additions to tax bills under § 8.2.4 at any regular or special meeting.

8.2 Assessment Procedure.

8.2.1 Making the Assessment.

[Amended 74 Del. Laws, c. 352 (7-12-2004)]

(a) Annual Assessment. If appointed, the Board of Assessment shall, prior to the first day of April of each year, make a just, true, and impartial annual evaluation or assessment of all real estate and improvements located within the Town of Bethany Beach. All real estate shall be described with a sufficient particularity to be identified. Real estate shall be assessed to the owner or owners if he or they be known. If the owner or owners of real estate cannot be found or ascertained, it may be assessed to “owner unknown”. A mistake in the name of the owner or owners or a wrong name or an assessment to “owner unknown” shall not affect the validity of the assessment of any municipal tax or assessment based thereon; provided, however, the assessment shall specify the last owner of record or owners thereof as the same shall appear from the records in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for Sussex County. 

(b) Supplemental Assessment. In addition to the annual assessment provided herein, the Board of Assessment may, at the option of the Town Council, prepare quarterly supplemental assessments for the purposes of:

(1) Adding property not already valued and included in the last assessment; and

(2) Revising the valuation and assessment of all real property which has undergone some significant change of conditions as to materially change the true market value thereof since the last assessment. If requested by the Town Council, the Board of Assessment shall prepare the quarterly supplemental assessments no later than the first day of June, September, and/or December of each year. In no case shall the quarterly supplemental assessment procedure be employed to impose taxes retroactively.

8.2.2 Assessment of Members of Board of Assessment. The real property of the members of the Board of Assessment shall be assessed by the Town Council of the Town of Bethany Beach.

8.2.3 Delivery of Assessment List. The Board of Assessment, after making an annual assessment, shall deliver to the Town Council of the Town of Bethany Beach prior to the first day of April of each year, a list containing the names of owners of all properties assessed and the amounts of assessments against each. The Board of Assessment, after making any quarterly supplemental assessment, shall deliver to the Town Council of the Town of Bethany Beach, by the first day of June, September, and/or December, a list containing only the names of owners of all properties having a change in assessment due to the quarterly supplemental assessment and the amount of assessment against each. The Board of Assessment shall also deliver at such time as many copies of said list as the Town Council shall direct.

[Amended 74 Del. Laws, c. 352 (7-12-2004)]

8.2.4 Additions to Tax Bills. Whether utilizing the Sussex County assessments or those prepared by the Town’s own Board of Assessment, the Town Council shall annually, prior to the posting of the assessment list, by resolution, provide for the Town Manager a list of any and all charges, costs or other assessments owed to the Town, which list of charges incurred shall include, but not be limited to, the following: water bond sinking funds assessments, curb and gutter assessments, water assessments, weed and grass cutting bills, trash collection bills, and past due water rents. Said amounts, when adopted and set forth by resolution of the Mayor and Council, shall be shown on the copies of the assessments posted pursuant to the provisions of Section 8.3.1 of this Charter.

8.3 Assessment Appeals.

8.3.1 Posting of Assessment List; Notice. Immediately upon receiving the annual or quarterly supplemental assessment list from the Board of Assessment, the Town Council shall cause a full and complete copy of the same, containing the amount assessed to each taxable, to be made available for public inspection at the Town Office, and there it shall remain for at least fourteen (14) days for the information of an examination by all concerned. Public notice of the posting of said assessment list, and the date, place, and time where the Town Council will sit as a Board of Revision and Appeal to hear appeals from said assessments and to make such corrections and revisions as it deems appropriate shall be posted in at least five (5) public places in the Town and published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town not less than fourteen (14) days prior to the day set for the hearing of such appeals. Whenever the Board of Assessment places a property on the quarterly supplemental assessment list, the Town Council shall deposit notice thereof in the regular mail addressed to the owner(s) of the property affected hereby at the address shown on the assessment list, or if the address of such owner(s) does not appear on the assessment list, then to the person occupying the property, or if there is no apparent occupant, such notice shall be posted on the property. Such notice of the quarterly supplemental assessment list shall be given not less than fourteen (14) days prior to the day set for hearings for any appeals before the Town Council as a Board of Revision and Appeal. During quarterly supplemental assessments, only the names shown on the quarterly supplemental assessment list may make appeals from said assessment. The mailing or posting, as the case may be, shall be conclusive evidence that notice to the property owner was received.

[Amended 74 Del. Laws, c. 352 (7-12-2004)]

8.3.2 Appeals Day. On the day set for such appeals, the Town Council shall sit as a Board of Revision and Appeal to hear appeals from the said assessment and to correct and revise the assessment as they deem appropriate. The Town Council shall have full power and authority to alter, revise, add to, and take from the said assessment. The decision of a majority of the Council shall be final and conclusive, unless an appeal is taken to the Superior Court of the State of Delaware in and for Sussex County within ten (10) days from the date of the Town Council’s decision. No member of the Town Council shall sit on his own appeal, but the same shall be heard and determined by the other members of the Town Council.  The Board of Assessment shall be present on the day fixed for hearing appeals and shall furnish to the Town Council such information and answer such questions as the Town Council may require in respect to any assessment for which an appeal has been taken. The Town Council shall have the authority to enforce the attendance of the Board of Assessment by appropriate process. Upon completion of the appeal process under this Section, the Town Council shall at that meeting or at the next ensuing regular meeting, adopt a resolution approving the final annual or quarterly supplemental assessment list, as the case may be (including any and all charges, costs, or other assessments owed to the Town and add it to the assessment list under § 8.2.4).

[Added 74 Del. Laws, c. 352 (7-12-2004)]