Treasurer Peter MacGregor told the Kent County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that the county’s investment returns and lodging-tax revenues have both increased while his office continues to focus on preventing tax-foreclosure losses.

MacGregor said the county posted just under $3 million in investment income in 2024 and that the county’s portfolio is weighted toward safety under an investment guideline he described as “SLI,” meaning safety, liquidity and yield. “The weight favors the safety. That’s kind of my number one concern,” MacGregor said.

The treasurer’s office also described the effect of a change to the county hotel-motel excise tax. MacGregor said the rate rose from 5% to 8% in January 2025 and that the county expects roughly $23 million in excise revenue for the year. “As of June 30, we have collected almost $11,000,000 … as of July or August, we’ve collected $15,000,000,” he said.

Why it matters: the lodging excise tax funds local services and the county distributes proceeds to local units; platform collection practices affect how easily the tax is collected and audited.

MacGregor told commissioners that Airbnb voluntarily collects the excise tax for hosts and accounts for roughly a third of the county’s short-term-rental lodging collections; other platforms such as Vrbo do not collect on behalf of hosts because, he said, state law places the collection obligation on the host rather than on the platform. Kent County staff later told commissioners that the state statute currently places the tax obligation on owners/hosts and that platforms’ willingness to collect varies by company.

On delinquent property tax work, MacGregor said the county accepts the delinquent tax roll each March and issues short-term notes to make local units whole. He said delinquent-dollar totals have increased over the last five years while the number of delinquent parcels has been relatively steady. “The number of parcels have been increasing minimally, but you could tell that the dollar amounts are going up,” he said.

MacGregor said his office works to avert foreclosures where possible and that the office prevents “over 98% of all tax foreclosures within our county.” He described the foreclosure-process numbers for one recent cycle: the office started with about 1,500 forfeitures on March 1 and foreclosed on 30 properties by April 1; 22 of those were vacant or unbuildable and six were unoccupied or condemned.

Commissioners pressed MacGregor on whether rising delinquency dollars signal broader housing-market trouble. Commissioner Pondstein asked whether the trend could presage a tipping point. MacGregor said the issue is complex and linked to state taxation structure: while local practice can mitigate outcomes, he said changes to assessment or state tax law would require legislative action. “It opens up a huge can of worms,” he said, adding that some solutions would require state-level changes.

Commissioners also asked about interest and fee calculations for late taxes. MacGregor explained that local penalties apply first and that once accounts move to the county roll the rate becomes 1.5% compounded (he explained that effective annual charges can feel “close to 18 plus percent a year”). He said his office tries to work with taxpayers and accepts partial payments to reduce interest accumulation.

MacGregor described staffing and technology choices that help his office operate with a smaller team than in the past: the office uses an outside vendor, TitleCheck, for due‑process postings and outsources some functions that otherwise would require multiple staff. He said electronic payments and bilingual staff have improved customer service and outreach.

MacGregor described a new “Home for Generations” program the office has begun testing with probate and pro bono partners to rehabilitate and transfer title of abandoned or tax-delinquent homes to heirs or qualified occupants. He said the first case is in process and the program could be repeated multiple times.

On short-term rentals, MacGregor said the county faces a choice: invest staff and appropriations to identify and audit hundreds of platform listings, or seek a state-law change that would place collection responsibility on platforms. He said Airbnb’s voluntary cooperation reduces the county’s workload, while platforms that do not collect create staffing and cost questions.

What’s next: commissioners asked the treasurer’s office to further study the scale of uncollected short‑term‑rental excise revenue and report back; MacGregor said staff would examine the issue and return with more information.

Ending: MacGregor closed by thanking the board and underscoring the office’s customer-service goal: “Our objective is to help families and property owners to avoid tax foreclosure,” he said.