Balanced Economic Development
While Kent County farms produce more food than ever, they now account for less than 5% of jobs in our county and can no longer provide an adequate tax base to meet the needs of our citizens. The following table compares Kent County's progress with that of other Maryland counties that have developed more diverse economies.
Kent County is not a poor county. It has tremendous natural resources, talented people, excellent fiber-optic internet access, and convenient access to markets. Unfortunately, the failure to diversify its economic base, combined with high taxes, particularly on its municipalities, has resulted in one of the worst rates of economic development in Maryland. Although other counties in Maryland are growing their economies at an average of 2.4%/year, Kent’s GDP is growing at only .46%/year, one of the worst growth rates in our state. To compound the problem, many of Kent County’s expenses are growing much faster than our revenues.
We understand that most people in Kent County have no desire for the rampant growth of Kent Island or Middletown, DE. Still, we must recognize that we need more revenue to support our schools and other services, and it is not fair to balance our budgets by failing to maintain our school buildings. With new leadership, we can preserve our farms, attract more small businesses, and provide more off-farm employment opportunities for young families.
One of the first rules of economic development or investment is asset diversification, but Kent County has ignored this principle for decades. Not only does the Agricultural Sector provide a smaller share of tax revenues each year, but Kent also lags far behind other counties in the development of its Commercial Sector. Kent County’s Commercial sector has been one of the slowest-growing in Maryland. For example, in 2025, while Kent’s Residential sector grew by nearly 20% (over the 3-year tax assessment cycle), Kent’s Commercial sector grew by less than 5%, the second-lowest Commercial growth rate in Maryland. These initiatives have been deferred for too long.
The following chart illustrates how Kent County compares with other counties in the development of its Commercial Sector:
It is important to note from the chart above that while the Assessed Value (for the purpose of Property Taxes) normally grows each year for the Residential and Commercial Sectors, Assessed Value for Agricultural Land is capped at $500/acre throughout Maryland. Unlike Residential and Commercial Property, which is reassessed every three years, the Maryland Legislature has not called for Agricultural land to be reassessed in over 50 years. This clearly demonstrates that it is all the more important for Kent County to promote Commercial development on non-agricultural lands.
Sometimes it helps to envision the balance of revenue sources in terms of a playground seesaw:
