How is Blades run?
Blades’ town government spent $519,000 on day-to-day services in the year to December 31, 2024, about $413 per resident. Water and other utilities ($442,000) are counted separately.
What stands out about how Blades is run
Read from the town’s budget and official records.
About $413 per resident a year, or $1.13 a day
Day-to-day services only. The biggest line: administration & buildings, at 60%.
Thank you for being a neighbor
No comparison for Blades yet
The fair comparison uses 2022, the last year the Census Bureau counted every government (later years are a sample). Blades’ 2022 figures are a Census estimate (it reported none of its 2022 dollars), so it has no like-for-like peer figure. It reported 2024; the next full count is 2027.
How Town Hall compares budgets →Day-to-day spending is down 16% since 2023
Day-to-day services, in dollars, in the years Blades reported to the Census Bureau. Prices rose too: about 4% a year in 2022–2024.
Day-to-day spending by fiscal year
Per resident: 2023: $503 · 2024: $413.
Building projects, interest and enterprises (hospital, utilities) are left out, so a big construction year doesn’t read as growth.
The typical homeowner pays $1,028 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 0.45% of the home’s value, vs 0.50% across Delaware.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Blades’ rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate. In a town this small the estimate has a wide margin.
Tax bills are one input to Blades’ Cost of living grade. Cost of living in Blades →
Who’s in charge in Blades
Names change after every election, so we link to the source that keeps them current.
Blades’ meeting calendar isn’t in our feed yet. The town posts agendas and minutes on blades.delaware.gov ↗.
One full-time town employee for every 180 residents
On the payroll in March 2022, from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll. Residents: the Census population in the 2024 finance file (1,258).
By department full-time, plus part-time, March 2022
The Census reports one month’s payroll (March); yearly figures are that month × 12, an estimate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
Seaford School District
Blades’ K–12 school district, shared with Seaford. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $19,681 per pupil, $9,528 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
Delaware districts overall: 32% local, 57% state, 11% federal.
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
Blades’ votes are counted by county
Delaware reports official results by county and precinct, not by town, so there are no official results for Blades alone, and we don’t estimate them. These are Sussex County’s results.
Donald J TrumpRepublican54.9%81,025 votes
Kamala D HarrisDemocrat43.9%64,836 votesOthers: 1.2% (1,778 votes).
Most votes in Sussex County: Donald J Trump
Delaware: Harris 56.5%, Trump 41.8%
100% of Blades lies in Sussex County. Every 2024 race in Sussex County is on the county’s page.
Sussex County’s 2024 results →Official 2024 general election returns, as certified (MIT Election Data + Science Lab). Percentages are of votes for candidates; blank and spoiled ballots aren’t counted. Candidates are listed by votes, and party colors are neutral on purpose.
Portraits: Kamala D Harris: official vice-presidential portrait, Lawrence Jackson, The White House, 2021; Donald J Trump: official portrait, Shealah Craighead, The White House, 2017. All are U.S. government works in the public domain. A race shows photos only when every candidate has an official portrait; otherwise every candidate in it gets initials.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Blades.
- 1Your townTown governmentOfficials: blades.delaware.gov ↗
- 2Delaware HouseState representatives
- 3Delaware SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in Congress
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of Delaware
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Blades’ government
The official site has phone numbers, hours and forms. Neighbors add the rest to the Handbook.
Questions about Blades’ government
How much does Blades spend per resident?
About $413 per resident on day-to-day services in the year to December 31, 2024, as reported to the Census Bureau.
What is the property tax rate in Blades?
Homeowners report a typical bill of $1,028 a year (Census ACS, 2020–24), about 0.45% of the typical home’s value, vs 0.50% across Delaware. For the official rate per $1,000 of assessed value, see blades.delaware.gov.
Who runs Blades’ government?
See blades.delaware.gov for current officials. We name an official only when a public source lists a current term, and none does for Blades yet.
How did Blades vote in 2024?
Delaware counts votes by county and precinct, not by town, so there are no official results for Blades alone. Sussex County, where 100% of Blades lies, voted Trump 54.9%, Harris 43.9% for president; its page has every race.
How many people work for Blades?
7 full-time and 0 part-time employees in March 2022, with a March payroll of $28,617 (about $343,404 a year if every month were the same), as reported to the Census Bureau.
Who represents Blades in the state legislature?
State Senate District 21 (Bryant Richardson) and State House District 39 (Danny Short). The House district also covers parts of two neighboring towns. Listed by Open States; districts from the Census Bureau.
Ask neighbors about Blades’ government
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (2022, every government) and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (2023–24, a sample) and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll; day-to-day spending is current operations, with hospitals, utilities and airports apart. School district: Census school finance survey, 2023–24. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 2020–24. Elections: official 2024 returns via the MIT Election Data + Science Lab; turnout uses Census citizen voting-age population (CVAP, 2020–24). Officials: Open States, names shown only with a current term (checked October 9, 2026). Districts: Census Bureau (119th Congress, 2024 state districts); legislators: Open States and congress-legislators. How Town Hall works →