They say there’s never any harm in asking but one ask of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners by small town officials is unlikely to get a “yes” answer – at least not any year soon.
But, again, you can’t fault a man, or a town, for asking.
Some leaders in Stokesdale and other towns in Guilford County have requested that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners reconsider a decade and a half old decision that angered many small town leaders when it happened: a controversial 2003 move by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to change the way sales tax proceeds were distributed in the county.
Sales tax money collected in Guilford County goes to the state and, is distributed back to the county and municipalities based on a method determined by the county commissioners. There are two ways that can be done: based on population or based on the property tax rate. The higher the property tax rate the greater proportion of the sales tax money the county, city or town receives.
Until 2003, Guilford County distributed the money on a per capita basis – that is, each jurisdiction got a percentage of the pool based on its population. Then the county changed the way it was done.
Under the property tax method now in place, the county distributes that money based on the amount of property tax a town or city levies. The higher the taxes relative to the county and other municipalities, the more sales tax proceeds a town or city gets. That means that small towns with low property taxes get only a small piece of the sales tax pie and Stokesdale, which has no property tax, gets no sales tax pie at all.
Guilford County Commissioner Justin Conrad, who represents an area that includes three towns – Stokesdale, Oak Ridge and Summerfield – said he’s been getting the request for the board to make the change and he added that the board might consider changing the method back at some point in the future.
“I don’t disagree with the philosophy of the request,” Conrad said. “I don’t disagree that what happened in 2003 was wrong for the small towns.”
One big reason the Board of Commissioners is unlikely to grant the request: It would cost the county a great deal of money. Guilford County Budget Director Mike Halford said this week that he hadn’t run the numbers in recent years but he said it would certainly mean millions less in revenue for the county.
“The county’s share would drop under a per capita distribution,” Halford said.
Conrad said that, because Guilford County is paying down a big bond debt that the current Republican-led board inherited, right now isn’t the time for Guilford County to make the switch. He said Guilford County needs the money to pay off that debt. Conrad added that, in a few years when some of that debt is paid down, the conversation would be more appropriate.
Stokesdale Town Councilmember Bill Jones, who’s stepping down from his seat on the Town Council because he’s moving out of town, said a major injustice was done 15 years ago and its now time that the county right that wrong and reinstate the former distribution method. He said he and others in Stokesdale and in other towns hurt by the 2003 move have sought help from state representatives. Jones said he and another Stokesdale office had gone to Raleigh and met with state representatives in an attempt to get a change in the law that would allow towns with no property tax to get at least a quarter of a percent of the sales tax proceeds that came to the county.
Commissioner Skip Alston, who was chairman of the Board of Commissioners at the time the change went into effect, said he remembers very well how mad elected officials of small towns were when the county went to an ad valorem method. Alston said that, while it certainly angered many, it was the right move for the county.
“It was done to make taxes more fair,” Alston said, adding that he doesn’t support the request to change it back.
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Alan Branson also said he can’t see the board supporting the change. He said many small towns only provide limited service to residents.
“If they are going to get the money, they need to provide the services,” he said, adding that they don’t do things like inspect buildings or provide law enforcement.
“Everybody wants to do the minimal piece that they can,” he said of towns.
Branson said a town like Pleasant Garden, for instance, does fund and operate a community center but it basically relies on county services for most everything else.
In a recent look at counties across the state, 47 use the property tax method for sales tax distribution while 53 use per capita allocation.
We’ll take your money so we can divide it up among everyone as we see fit. And what is fit is what works best for us. I think there’s a term for that….Socialism.
They take our money because we don’t provide services but without the money we can’t afford to provide services…Catch 22.
Most of the town’s do provide services. Such as water systems, parks, grants to public schools for computers, planning and zoning services for town residents etc. There are many things the small towns could do with their fair share of sales tax distributions, in a much more efficient manner than the county. This is nothing more than an immoral money grab. They should not punish county residents for bonds voted in by city residents!
Under the current state statute to be incorporated in North Carolina a town or city has to provide at least four of the following eight services within three years of incorporation: police protection, fire protection, solid waste collection or disposal, water distribution, street maintenance, street construction, street lighting and zoning. Some towns in Guilford County have been incorporated for 20 years and couldn’t meet the current requirements to incorporate.
I realize the laws regarding the incorporation of towns have changed since most of the small towns incorporated. I personally did not vote to incorporate Stokesdale, as I did not believe another layer of Government would be a good thing. However, once they were incorporated, they should be treated the same as other incorporated towns. This is really an issue of whether the taxpayers who live in these towns should receive the million dollar + annual share of sales tax distributions, or whether their share should be turned over to Greensboro and High Point. The services some of the Commissioners like to point out are paid by property tax revenue, of which those living in NW towns pay about 150% of the average per capita amount. Really two different revenue streams. One Commissioner admitted it was likely not to be changed because there are not that many votes in the small towns. There is the absolute truth of the matter!
It’s not Greensboro and High Point, it’s Guilford County that gets the money. Since the distribution system was changed to be based on property taxes, both Greensboro and High Point have lost millions in sales tax revenue.