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Council says state code limits disclosure on Insight Wilmington office sale; members urge state review of transfer-tax treatment
Summary
County CFO said state recording rules and confidentiality limit what the county can disclose about the Insight Wilmington transaction; council members raised concerns that a corporate structure might have avoided transfer tax and suggested asking the General Assembly to investigate or close a loophole.
Council members discussed the recent sale of Insight Wilmington office property and whether the transaction avoided local transfer taxes during the Finance Committee meeting on June 23.
"There's not a lot I can say about this transaction," Dave Delgrande, New Castle County chief financial officer, told the committee, citing state code provisions and confidentiality for recorded deeds. He said, if issues are found, the county has three years to correct them in cooperation with the state division of finance.
Several council members urged further inquiry. Councilman Cartier compared the case to a prior transaction involving the Claymont Steel Mill and said similar stock-merger structures had previously avoided transfer tax, calling it a significant loss. "Somebody's gotta wake up and close this loophole… it's millions of dollars at stake and we're being ripped off," Cartier said.
Members discussed asking the General Assembly to look into the matter or adopting a council resolution to prompt action by state legislators. County counsel told the committee the county would need to see the actual transaction documents to evaluate how the deal was structured and to determine whether transfer taxes were avoided; without the agreements, counsel said the county could only speculate.
No formal action was taken; council members asked counsel and staff to pursue available information and recommended communicating concerns to state legislators if documents support the inquiry.
