As Guilford County prepares for property revaluation next year, residents made clear to county commissioners that they want action to reduce the tax burden on residents.
The public hearing at Thursday’s board meeting did not deal directly with tax rates. Instead, the board was seeking public input on the Schedule of Values, a manual containing guidelines and standards the county will use in the reappraisal process.
However, the comments on Thursday focused more on concerns about how the next revaluation will affect taxes.
Bronni VanDerwerker told the commissioners that “any time you hear the word revaluation, you always equate that to a tax increase.”
VanDerwerker said her taxes rose about 30% following the last reappraisal and that the prospect of another revaluation next year “causes a little bit of panic.”
She called on the board to adopt a revenue-neutral tax rate in 2026, a rate that would bring in roughly the same amount of revenue as if the tax rate were maintained and there were no reappraisal.
The calculation for revenue neutral also includes an adjustment factor based on growth in the tax base since the previous revaluation.
While local governments must calculate the revenue-neutral figure and include it in the budget, they are not required to adopt that rate.
In 2022, following the last revaluation, county commissioners set the tax rate at 73.05 cents, nearly 14 cents higher than the revenue-neutral rate.
VanDerwerker said it would be imperative to adopt a revenue-neutral rate next year, adding, “Residents cannot sustain more taxes.”
Ken Orms, another Guilford County resident, spoke in favor of House Bill 539, a bill sponsored by Guilford County Rep. John Blust that would require local governments to set revenue-neutral rates.
“If House Bill 539 is not passed, Katy bar the doors, because Democrats who control the county and school boards will continue their gluttonous spending spree and you, your kids and your grandchildren will be forced to pay the bill,” Orms said.
The bill was introduced in the state legislature in March and has not moved since then. Blust was present for Thursday’s meeting but did not speak.
Other speakers said commissioners would create problems in the community if they did not lower the tax burden after the revaluation.
Billy Queen, who has announced he intends to be a candidate for Guilford County sheriff, told the commissioners that high taxes could drive families to take desperate, illegal actions.
“You have the power to leave them with no alternative but to turn to crime,” Queen said. “You can turn them into thieves, shoplifters and even drug dealers. The reason I’m saying that is because good people are not going to let their children starve, and good people are not going to let their children sleep out in the cold or in some dangerous homeless shelter.”
“I implore you, think about the children that will sleep in the cold,” he said.
Inga Koujak, who described herself as a real estate broker, said housing prices were being driven up by more affluent out-of-state buyers who were crowding out existing residents.
“So, I just want you to consider that fact, that we have over-inflated property values because of people coming from other states, and we want our children, the ones that grew up here, to be able to have a home,” Koujak said.
She also called for county leaders to show more fiscal restraint.
“In our home, when we overspend, we start cutting back,” she said. “We start cutting things. We don’t keep spending, and that’s your job, to cut back.”
The county is expected to adopt its Schedule of Values on Oct. 16. Residents will have a month after that to bring a challenge to the schedule to the N.C. Property Tax Commission.
The revaluation of property will be completed early next year, with homeowners expected to receive notices in February. Informal and formal appeals processes will follow from that.
Guilford County, as well as cities and towns in the county, will be responsible for adopting budgets and tax rates by June 30.
kevin.griffin@greensboro.com
Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!
Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
* I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Kevin Griffin
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don’t have an account? Sign Up Today