CHAPTER 33
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 149
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 161, VOLUME 43, LAWS OF DELAWARE, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO REINCORPORATE THE TOWN OF DAGSBORO", AS AMENDED BY CHAPTER 29, VOLUME 52, CHAPTER 254, VOLUME 52, CHAPTER 171, VOLUME 61, CHAPTER 360, VOLUME 62, AND CHAPTER 289, VOLUME 66, LAWS OF DELAWARE, AND CONFERRING UPON THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF DAGSBORO CERTAIN POWERS RELATING 10 THE TAXATION OF REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS WITHIN THE TOWN OF DAGSBORO.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each House thereof concurring therein):
Section 1. Amend Chapter 161, Volume 43, Laws of Delaware, as amended, by adding thereto a new subsection to be designated as Subsection 18(a), to read as follows:
"18A: Taxation of Real Estate Transfers:
(a) The Town Council of the Town of Dagsboro, in addition to all other powers conferred upon It by this Section, shall have the power and authority by ordinance or ordinances to levy, assess and collect or provide for the levying, assessment and collection of such taxes as shall be determined by the Town Council to be paid by the transferor or transferee upon the transfer of real property or any interest in real property situate within the corporate limits of the Town of Dagsboro, regardless of where the instruments making the transfers are made, executed, or delivered or where the actual settlements on such transfers occur; provided, however, that no tax levied under this Subsection shall exceed fifty percent (50%) of any tax levied by the State of Delaware upon the same property; and provided further that no tax shall be levied upon an organization exempted from ad valorem real estate taxes.
(b) No ordinance or ordinances providing for a tax on the transfer of real property or any interest in real property authorized under this Subsection shall become effective unless it receives an affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all elected members of the Town Council of the Town of Dagsboro. If the taxing power authority granted under this Section shall be exercised by way of a stamp affixed to a document presented for recording, the Recorder of Deeds, in and for Sussex County, shall not receive for record any document subject to such tax unless such stamps are affixed thereto.
(c) The Town Council of the Town of Dagsboro may adopt an ordinance or ordinances to provide for the effective administration and regulation of any tax adopted pursuant to the provisions of. this Subsection.
(d) No tax levied under this Section shall exceed one percent (1%) of the sale price (including the value of any assumed mortgage or mortgages) or of the fair market value of the real property so transferred; and provided, however, that no tax shall be imposed upon an organization which is exempted from ad valorem taxes. The provisions of Section 5401 and Section 5403, Title 30, Del.C., shall be applicable to any real estate transfer tax Imposed pursuant to this Subsection.
(e) The Town Council may provide by Ordinance for the collection of such tax by the Recorder of Deeds, or other agent In and for Sussex County, and shall prescribe in such Ordinance the charge that will be paid for such collection of such real estate transfer tax authorized by this Subsection."
Section 2. No ordinance providing for a tax on the transfer of real property or any interest in real property authorized under this Act shall become effective until it shall be approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the Town of Dagsboro at a Special Election to be held pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 161, Volume 43, Laws of Delaware, as amended by Section 15, Chapter 171, Volume 61, Laws of Delaware. The Town Council shall give notice of such Special Election by printing a copy of the Resolution calling the Special Election in at least two (2) issues of a newspaper having a general circulation within the corporate limits of the Town of Dagsboro within thirty (30) days immediately preceding the date of such Special Election. The notice shall also include the appointed polling place of such Special Election and the hours when it shall be held. Such qualified voters who are in the polling place at the hour appointed for the Special Election to end shall be entitled to vote even though such votes may be cast after the closing time. If a majority of the votes cast at the Special Election shall be in favor of the transfer tax authorized by this Act, the tax may be levied and collected as provided for in this Act
If the majority of the votes cast at any Special Election held under this Act shall be against the levying of the tax authorized by this Act, the proposition shall not again be submitted to the qualified voters until the expiration of ninety (90) days from the date of the said Special Election."
Approved June 8, 1989.