Delaware General Assembly plan would return money to taxpayers

(The Center Square) – An agreement that would send $300 direct payments to taxpayers has been reached, legislators said.

The Delaware State House of Representatives’ Republican Caucus said in a Facebook post late Monday that a $100 million relief plan to those residents who filed a 2020 tax return has been agreed to in principle.

The group said a new state revenue forecast from the Delaware Economic & Financial Advisory Council on Monday that over the past three months a total of $349 million was added to the state budget for the current fiscal year.

The state, according to the group, was anticipating an $800 million cash surplus.

“My hope is these direct payments will provide some measure of relief for Delaware families who are dealing with higher costs at the grocery store and the gas pump,” Carney told WHYY. “These direct payments to Delaware families are part of a broader, responsible budget proposal.”

According to the release, state lawmakers sought a gas tax holiday as prices in the state have soared past $4, but in the end the rebate “proved to be a more viable method to provide financial relief to most Delawareans.”

Revenue generated from the state’s 23 cents-per-gallon tax are used to purchase bonds that are sold to finance the Transportation Trust Fund. Funds are then used to construct and maintain roads and bridges, and state law forbids any reduction of gas tax revenue if there are outstanding bonds needing repaid.

Under the agreement, according to the release, the rebate was deemed to be more effective than a gas tax holiday. A motorist would need to fill a gas tank an estimated 60 times to reach the levels of the rebate.

The rebate, according to the release, would go to more than 600,000 state residents and would cost the state $187 million in revenue.

“The state has hundreds-of-millions of dollars more than what is needed to pay for our annual funding bills, including prudently setting aside money in reserve,” State House Minority Leader Danny Short, R-Seaford, said in the release. “Hopefully, this rebate will not be treated as a final solution, but rather as a good start towards balancing the state’s needs with those of our citizens.”

Meanwhile, the group, according to the release, is filing several bills that would either adjust income tax brackets, provide realty transfer breaks, establish a low-income tax credit, and decrease an earlier tax hike on the realty transfer tax.

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