The $500 Delaware Senior School Property Tax Credit and the 10 Year Rule
Part of our Delaware Retirement and Second Home Guides.
By Bill Davis, Broker and Owner, Active Adults Realty. Published September 22, 2026. Updated September 25, 2026 to cover all three counties.
Prefer to read? The full guide is written out below.
Active Adults Realty is a real estate brokerage, not a financial, tax or legal advisor. Every figure on this page comes from the State of Delaware and from New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, and was verified in September 2026. Rules and amounts can change. Confirm your own situation with the State of Delaware, your county or your tax professional.
What is the $500 credit on your Delaware property tax bill?
If you own a home in Delaware and you are 65 or older, there is a credit worth up to $500 a year that belongs on your property tax bill, and plenty of people who could have it are not getting it.
It is called the Senior School Property Tax Credit. It is a state program, and it works the same way in New Castle, Kent and Sussex. There are two tests to qualify. Most people already know the first one. Almost nobody talks about the second, and the second one is where the money gets lost.
None of this is breaking news. These rules have been on the books for years. What makes it timely is the calendar: this is tax bill season, and the one time a year most people actually open the envelope.
When is your tax bill due?
- Kent County: September 30, 2026.
- Sussex County: September 30, 2026.
- New Castle County: December 31, 2026. Bills mail in mid November. This year's date moved from the usual September 30 under a 2026 state law.
If you live inside Wilmington, Dover or Newark, your city sends a separate city tax bill as well.
What is actually inside that envelope?
Two different things, and they get mixed up constantly.
- County property tax. The county's own share.
- School taxes. Your school district's share, which the county collects on the same bill.
In all three counties the school tax is the larger part. New Castle County says school taxes are about 81 percent of a combined bill. Sussex County says its own share is about 10 percent of a typical residential bill. So when you complain about your tax bill, you are mostly complaining about school taxes. Hold on to that, because it decides what the credit is worth.
What does the Senior School Property Tax Credit actually pay?
On your primary residence, it pays 50 percent of your regular school property taxes, capped at $500.
Now put that next to what you just read. School taxes are the big part of the bill, and this credit only touches the school part. Fifty percent capped at $500 means that once your school taxes pass $1,000 a year, you are capped. For most homeowners in Delaware, that happened a long time ago.
So do not think of it as a percentage. Think of it as $500 flat, and only if you qualify.
The deadline to apply is April 30, and it is not retroactive. Miss it and you do not get last year back. You get next year.
What are the two tests to qualify?
Age and time. You have to pass both, not one or the other.
Test one, age. You must be 65 or older by June 30, before the new tax year starts. Nothing surprising there.
Test two, time. And this is not time in a house. It is time in Delaware: how long you have been legally domiciled in this state.
How long do you have to live in Delaware to qualify?
There are three groups, and the one you fall into depends on when you became a Delaware resident.
| When you became domiciled in Delaware | What you need |
|---|---|
| Before January 1, 2013 | Eligible the next tax year |
| January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2017 | 3 consecutive years in the state |
| January 1, 2018 or later | 10 consecutive years in the state |
Ten years. Sit with that, because it lands on people at the settlement table.
If you moved here in 2020, when half the East Coast decided it wanted to live in Delaware, you pass the age test the day you turn 65 and you still do not get the credit until 2030. Come in 2022 and you are looking at 2032. You could be 74 years old, house paid off, six years in that house, and the answer is still not yet.
That is about $5,000 over ten years that people moving here assume they are getting, and they are not. It is the same in Middletown, Dover and Lewes.
And before somebody asks: yes, there was an attempt to soften it. A bill to cut the wait to three years was sent to committee in 2025 and has not moved. Nobody should plan around it.
Where do you apply?
To your county, not to the state. The county takes the credit off your bill before it is mailed.
- New Castle County Office of Assessment, 87 Read's Way, New Castle. 302-395-5520.
- Kent County Receiver of Taxes and Assessment, Dover. 302-744-2341.
- Sussex County Assessment, Georgetown. 302-855-7871.
You will need a Delaware driver's license or state ID. Your tax bill has to be paid in full each year to keep the credit for the next one.
What happens to the credit when you move?
The credit does not travel with you. It does not transfer to a new house, and a move means a brand new application.
Picture the normal thing that happens every summer. Somebody sells the big house in Wilmington or Dover, buys a smaller one, settles in July, gets busy, unpacks, has a lovely fall. April 30 goes by. That is $500 gone.
Here is the good news. Moving inside Delaware does not restart your clock, because the clock is about living in the state, not about the address. You keep the time you have already put in, even if you move from one county to another. Only the paperwork starts over: new house, new form, filed with the county the new house is in.
One more thing. If you are behind on your property taxes, you do not qualify for the credit. So the bill on your counter is not just a bill. It is the thing keeping you eligible.
Is there a county senior exemption too?
Yes, and it is separate from the state credit. Each county runs its own, each has an income limit, and most people will not qualify. But it exists, and if it fits you, make the call.
- New Castle County: homeowners over 65 or disabled may qualify depending on income. Ask the Office of Assessment for this year's limits.
- Kent County: 65 by May 31, income under $18,000 single or $24,750 for a couple, not counting Social Security, and five years a Delaware resident. Apply by April 30 and renew each year.
- Sussex County: 65 by June 30, a full-time Sussex resident for the five years before July 1, and income under $6,000 single or $7,500 married, not counting Social Security. Apply January 1 to April 30.
What should you do if you are buying in Delaware?
Two things, and both are easy.
Build your budget without this credit for your first ten years if you are moving to Delaware from somewhere else. Not with it. Without it. If you turn out to qualify sooner, wonderful. Just do not plan on it.
If you are buying a resale from somebody who has the credit, their bill is not going to be your bill. The credit was theirs, not the house's, and it leaves with them. Ask to see the tax bill, then add $500 back to it in your head. That is your number.
What should you know if you are selling?
Shorter answer here. Your credit is not a selling feature. The buyer does not inherit it.
If your listing sheet shows an annual tax figure, make sure it is the number without your credit, or you are setting up an awkward conversation at the table.
And if you are selling here and buying here, put April 30 on your calendar the day you go under contract on the new place. Not after settlement. The day you go under contract, while you are still paying attention.
What should you do now?
We spend all our energy on the big numbers: price, rate, appraisal. Nobody spends ten minutes on the small print, and the small print is where the money you are already owed is hiding.
- Pay the bill by its due date: September 30 in Kent and Sussex, December 31 this year in New Castle.
- Check the age test: 65 by June 30.
- Check the time test. The number you probably have to look up is the year you became a Delaware resident, not the year you bought the house.
Bring us that year and your town and we will walk you to the page where the state spells out your group and the date you can apply. It takes ten minutes, it costs nothing, and it beats finding out in April.
Where these figures come from
- Delaware Department of Finance, Senior School Property Tax Relief
- New Castle County, Property Reassessment FAQ and Tax Exemptions
- Kent County, Tax Credits and Exemptions
- Sussex County, Tax Assistance Programs
Verified September 25, 2026.
Talk to a Delaware broker who works this market every day
Active Adults Realty is a Lewes based brokerage specializing in 55 and better communities across New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties, with agents in all three. Bill Davis is the broker and owner.
Call or text 302-549-5164, or send us a message. Tell us the year you became a Delaware resident and the town you are in.