[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6699070,"mediaKeyId","2159048-e74aa7692d1437eb25bfbf38433ae675","parentId",2159048,"title","Council reviews multiple federal, state and local grants; approves small community grants","audioSeconds",2055,"startMs",150000,"endMs",2205000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2159048-e74aa7692d1437eb25bfbf38433ae675&start=150&end=2205","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2159048-e74aa7692d1437eb25bfbf38433ae675/thumbnail_150000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6699070/New-Castle-County/Delaware/Council-reviews-multiple-federal-state-and-local-grants-approves-small-community-grants","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6699070-0e3269959493a538bee3394ad330a1e6/orig.mp4?Expires=1771154196&Signature=BHcCyyh9ihhf8zcTg-x1DmU8t3NSuyy9OVUytQn8wpk1xRBh7ojZ3iWQUDZUNUgWchyui7Z3WfkArpMEVR0l2CIROZW27Qe4GSX7CIQs0rYhV4E-QjyCF1NYBdQEsPEoHt9fqSMde7rITTWZCuZGyQAfET6YlouKGKQpL4-VdEN0yCJJ4tW9jFAvdvN5TwJxvOx8Vku8ZSa1RwAxQHU6lYuZUcojo1g8Jifcl5HnBi~BRAgWxxPz4KVyJ4h0ZMwEGzUsr3pyCqdvVU2qNNQtL1I9-9quZ~82u5n3dgcLr8j03jMdP4qRnirUvJ1c7weXWqHTvZyZHSRh1hN~XPjvIg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","New Castle County","date","2025-01-28T00:00:00Z","article","The New Castle County Council on Jan. 28 read and introduced several ordinances to appropriate federal and state grant funds for county departments and approved multiple small community grants from district discretionary funds.

Major grant appropriations presented to the council included:
- Ordinance 25-003: $103,632 (federal) from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), passed through the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, to the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLGGP) administered by the Office of Technology and Administrative Services. The ordinance was read into the record by council staff; no public comment was recorded in the transcript segment.
- Ordinance 25-004: $100,283.68 (federal) from CISA, passed through the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, for a Netskope renewal SLGGP grant, administered by the Office of Technology and Administrative Services. The grant's targeted completion date was read as March 1, 2026.
- Ordinance 25-005: $84,396.50 (state) from the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to a Christiana Fire Company grant for a command vehicle and boat trailer designated for the Department of Public Safety; council co-chair and committee speaker described the item as a pass-through grant to the fire company.
- Ordinance 25-006: $145,140.19 (federal) from the Department of Homeland Security/FEMA for Department of Public Safety equipment, listed items included trauma kits, SWAT helmets and explosive-ordinance-disposal robot equipment.
- Ordinance 25-007: $105,744.14 (federal) from DHS/FEMA for training and equipment for the Department of Public Safety; transcript indicates this is a reimbursement through the state's Homeland Security Grant Program.
- Ordinance 25-008: $163,014 (federal) — 2024 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) for the New Castle County Department of Public Safety, Division of Police; the auditor (council speaker) said the grant will support police overtime in high-identified-crime areas, specialized training and emergency victim assistance funds.
- Ordinance 25-009: $1,000,000 (federal pass-through) from the U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration through DelDOT to the Commons Boulevard Pathway Phase 2 grant for the Department of Public Works.

The transcript shows council members asked no public commenters for several of the read grant ordinances and there is no recorded formal vote on those ordinance readings in the provided segment. Where the transcript records a council motion and vote, the outcome is recorded below.

Community and discretionary grants (motions, amendments, and outcomes recorded in the transcript):
- Village of Ardencroft (district grant): Councilman Cartier moved to grant $2,654 for pedestrian-pathway and park renovations tied to the village's 75th anniversary. The motion was seconded and the motion passed; one member said \"I'm not voting,\" per the transcript (no full roll-call tally recorded in the segment).
- Friendship House (code purple program): Council members combined discretionary contributions during the meeting. Councilman Street initially moved a $2,500 grant and multiple members added funds; the motion was amended on the floor to a single grant of $9,250 and council recorded \"All in favor? Aye.\" The transcript captures the amendment and that the motion passed; the precise roll-call tally is not recorded in the segment.
- Encore Coalition, Inc. (park/playground project): Councilman Conneco moved $2,500 and the motion carried with a second and an \"Aye.\"

What the grants do: council speakers described the cybersecurity grants as support for county technology protections and renewal of vendor services; FEMA funds were described as equipment and training for public-safety responders; DelDOT and FHWA funds support active-transportation/pathway infrastructure; JAG funding is earmarked for police overtime, training, and victim support.

Not recorded or unclear in the transcript: for several of the larger appropriations read into the record (the federal/state grant ordinances listed above), the transcript segment does not include motions, seconds or a roll-call vote, so the meeting record in this excerpt does not show whether the council formally adopted each ordinance at that time. The transcript does record motions, seconds and votes for the listed community discretionary grants.

Votes at a glance (from the transcript segment):
- Ordinance 25-003 (CISA SLGGP grant, $103,632): outcome not specified in transcript segment.
- Ordinance 25-004 (Netskope renewal SLGGP grant, $100,283.68): outcome not specified.
- Ordinance 25-005 (Christiana Fire Company DelDOT pass-through, $84,396.50): outcome not specified.
- Ordinance 25-006 (FEMA equipment, $145,140.19): outcome not specified.
- Ordinance 25-007 (FEMA training/equipment, $105,744.14): outcome not specified.
- Ordinance 25-008 (JAG 2024, $163,014): outcome not specified.
- Ordinance 25-009 (Commons Boulevard Pathway Phase 2 FHWA via DelDOT, $1,000,000): outcome not specified.
- Village of Ardencroft grant: $2,654 — motion passed (no full roll-call in segment).
- Friendship House (code purple): $9,250 — motion amended on floor and passed (no roll-call tally recorded).
- Encore Coalition, Inc.: $2,500 — motion passed (no roll-call tally recorded).

Proper names and agencies appearing in the discussion included New Castle County, Delaware Emergency Management Agency, Department of Public Safety, Department of Transportation (DelDOT), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Highway Administration, and CliftonLarsonAllen (in a separate presentation). Council staff and committee co-chairs read the ordinance titles into the record and noted that there were no public commenters for many of the grant items during the recorded segment.

Next steps: For the large grant ordinances, the transcript does not show final recorded votes in the provided excerpt; council staff should confirm adoption status in the official minutes or the council clerk's record. Community grant recipients (Ardencroft, Friendship House, Encore Coalition) were told funds would be processed and recipients would provide required follow-up reports, per council comments.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","New Castle County - Administrative-Finance Committee - Jan 28, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The New Castle County Council on Jan. 28 read and introduced several ordinances to appropriate federal and state grant funds for county departments and approved multiple small community grants from district discretionary funds.","taxTitle","New Castle County, Delaware","taxId",12637,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6699081,"New Castle County: 11,407 informal reassessment hearings completed; formal appeals due March 14",1053,743000,1796000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2159048-e74aa7692d1437eb25bfbf38433ae675&start=743&end=1796","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2159048-e74aa7692d1437eb25bfbf38433ae675/thumbnail_743000.jpg","/articles/6699081/New-Castle-County/Delaware/New-Castle-County-11407-informal-reassessment-hearings-completed-formal-appeals-due-March-14","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6699081-ad5c4d6e904e1d3779f74b7f69fb754c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771154196&Signature=jA~afKAWUo6t8pvUNOkGgBkUShCWosNW5pv-4Eav40gOsqeMUNOtC5Y1~EMdHnU5TpjfHdr~iFeui~jl3Yrl2lZrBsUIz8mppf6uHzvYR6~laHhAuwOmOwbi1SPm~jdoPuI87dHmqB3MUnxbDn-es8HwtGfhClyOQMjGzU~p5WhA4klrqHtDdwYgUtrEcRmn2QL5jyG4Dt91GAI-GnhSp6yk9OPW5OgZCJmclxZOqD2xQpd1TcFs2b6Ig4zeCStm68eClURx1wJkOt4NOyK~2VzEtDTTAncsgjpmKwHWls436v8wVazbOrOxMtXUqhEUS6TvxTQYlc4ggZan1rOGBg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","New Castle County officials told the County Council on Jan. 28 that informal hearings tied to the countywide reassessment have concluded and that residents who had an informal hearing will receive mailed notices of any assessment changes around Feb. 15.

The reassessment project manager from Tyler Technologies, Mike McFarland, told council members, “we've had a total of 11407 informal hearings.” He said “the preponderant majority of those were residential in nature. Approximately 10872 were residential hearings. The other 430 were commercial.” McFarland said about two-thirds of hearings were by phone and about one-third were in person at the Gilliam Building.

The informal process is complete and Tyler is finalizing revisions to assessed values, McFarland said. He told council the vendor and county planned a batch mailing of decision notices to informal participants on or shortly after Feb. 15 and were working with the mail vendor to have notices postmarked by Feb. 14.

Why it matters: mailed notices and the timing set the start of the formal-appeal window and determine who will receive an updated assessment before the statutory filing deadline.

County assessment manager Denny Hartman described the formal appeals process. He said every property owner may file a formal appeal even if they did not request an informal hearing. “By state code, it's March 14,” Hartman said when asked about the filing deadline. He said the Board of Assessment Review is scheduled to review updated formal-appeal forms and rule changes on Feb. 13; county staff expect to make online, fillable forms and a new “SmartFile” tool available after that meeting for public filing.

Hartman and Tyler officials gave an estimate for potential appeal volume. Tyler told the council the industry average for formal appeals is roughly 10 percent of parcels; if that industry average occurred in New Castle County it could mean “a little over 20,000 formal appeals,” the vendor said. Hartman offered a lower internal estimate of “somewhere between 7 and 12,000.” He cautioned that the county’s ability to process appeals will lengthen if filings are high: “If we get 10,000 in, it's gonna take … months to get through them.”

To speed processing, the county is preparing a referee program. At the meeting the council discussed Ordinance 25-014, which would authorize hiring referees to hear reassessment appeals and set pay for those referees from the reassessment fund. The ordinance text presented at the meeting sets $35 per hour for residential-referee hearings and $50 per hour for nonresidential-referee hearings and specifies council approval of referee appointments. Council members said funds are already budgeted in the reassessment account to cover referee payments; the transcript records the pay rates and the funding source as part of the ordinance discussion but does not record a formal vote on the ordinance in the meeting minutes.

Council members asked for timely distribution of information to elected officials. McFarland agreed to work with Hartman to provide the county and key stakeholders the finalized assessment-change figures “before we read it in the paper,” so council offices can prepare to answer constituent calls.

Other clarifications from the meeting:
- Notices: Tyler will mail decision notices for informal hearings in a single batch on or shortly after Feb. 15; those who did not receive an updated notice (because their value did not change and they did not request an informal hearing) will not receive a new November notice change.
- Filing cost: Hartman said there is no fee to file a formal appeal.
- Evidence standards: Hartman and Tyler said the formal-appeal forms and FAQ will explain acceptable evidence; residential appeals generally rely on either a Delaware-certified appraisal or comparable-sales analysis.

Next steps: County staff and Tyler expect to post the formal appeal forms, rules and FAQ on the county website after the Board of Assessment Review meets Feb. 13. The statutory deadline to file formal appeals remains March 14, per Hartman. Processing time will depend on total filings and the eventual volume of appeals.","New Castle County officials told the County Council on Jan. 28 that informal hearings tied to the countywide reassessment have concluded and that residents who had an informal hearing will receive mailed notices of any assessment changes around Feb. 15.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6699076,"Independent auditor issues clean opinion on New Castle County financials; single-audit work ongoing",742,2210000,2952000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2159048-e74aa7692d1437eb25bfbf38433ae675&start=2210&end=2952","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2159048-e74aa7692d1437eb25bfbf38433ae675/thumbnail_2210000.jpg","/articles/6699076/New-Castle-County/Delaware/Independent-auditor-issues-clean-opinion-on-New-Castle-County-financials-single-audit-work-ongoing","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6699076-29217d70ab226511f822eabc331de4a3/orig.mp4?Expires=1771154196&Signature=KTrWDwuTx5tGqIX00E4jMjB9EVFvRzWsPkVs8YTx879YSq7edg9xawD6VVfv6M2C0yz3erJ4Dlq5XzSjMIklJ4AxMjjeCTkNBelNlSnDjmFRjvjrjwBKTxGucM~aMZ--rLxyowRlN5x6pdOxaFAsdM7KS15BCpFvMKyQZRPMfJcy8PIwYACrEb4oyBT1pSyHUUNWZ-Y5QJ3TGOnH5usB3LmbHfczq7uzOptW37pRu6-6siHQu9bGRZVamjmxLmxL4EebJOdvoiMRJcqHEpVPK2eLo2u11xzVoNF8M16Xs9ThSC9hLaj4YwYkXWAIHR-JbsOIrNk4xj3X1fPQN0HdsQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","An independent auditor told the New Castle County Council on Jan. 28 that the county's annual financial statements received an unmodified (clean) opinion and that the county showed no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control.

Remy Amasur, principal with CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), presented highlights from the annual comprehensive financial report and the audit. “We issued an unmodified or clean opinion,” Amasur said, and added that the single-audit of federal awards remained under way and was expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

CLA's presentation called out several trends and items for council attention: the audit disclosed GASB 94 (public-private partnership) disclosures tied to county agreements for golf and tennis facilities; transfer-tax revenues were lower than the prior year (Amasur cited about a $12 million decrease linked to lower property-transfer activity); investment earnings were higher than the previous year (Amasur said investment performance contributed roughly $8 million more in earnings); and overall long-term liabilities and pension/OPEB estimates decreased compared with the prior year.

Amasur said the auditors had no findings that rose to the level of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and that the audit work to date was “relatively straightforward.” He noted the federal single-audit (required for federally funded programs) was still being completed and must meet the federal deadline; CLA expected to finish that work by late March.

Councilman Carter asked whether the transfer-tax decline reflected structural demographic changes or simply lower activity; Amasur said it primarily reflected decreased transaction activity — fewer property sales — rather than a single structural cause.

The auditor also highlighted the county's general fund balances and reserves, saying the county maintained healthy fund-balance levels and complied with budget and stabilization reserve policies. Amasur thanked finance staff for cooperation in delivering the audit.

Next steps: CLA will finish the federal single-audit procedures and present any required federal findings to the council once that work is complete.","CliftonLarsonAllen presented the county's annual comprehensive financial report and issued an unmodified (clean) opinion at the Jan. 28 County Council meeting. The firm reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies; the federal single-audit remained in progress and was expected to be completed by late March.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Council reviews multiple federal, state and local grants; approves small community grants

New Castle County: 11,407 informal reassessment hearings completed; formal appeals due March 14

Independent auditor issues clean opinion on New Castle County financials; single-audit work ongoing