Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said this week that he believes a bill moving through the North Carolina General Assembly that would delay the impact of Guilford County’s new property revaluation is “100 percent” certain to pass – and he warned that, if it does, Guilford County would be forced to scale back services and rethink its proposed budget just weeks before commissioners are expected to adopt it.
The bill is Senate Bill 889, which is officially titled the “Property Tax Reappraisal Moratorium.” It would delay the use of new 2026 property revaluations in certain counties — including Guilford County — until 2027.
Alston said he believes that the legislation, which has already passed the North Carolina Senate, is headed for final approval soon and could dramatically alter Guilford County’s budget planning for the coming fiscal year.
“They’re going to pass that bill,” Alston said. “It passed the Senate and it’s going to pass the House too.”
The bill would effectively delay the impact of property tax increases tied to new county property valuations until next year in certain counties, including Guilford County – where many homeowners recently received sharply higher assessments.
Guilford County Manager Victor Isler’s proposed budget currently assumes revenue based on the new revaluation numbers and includes funding increases for schools, EMS, the sheriff’s office, social services and other county departments.
However, Alston said that, if the state blocks the county from using those higher property valuations this year, he has no interest in simply increasing the county’s tax rate to recover the money.
“I’m not going to play that game,” Alston said. “I’m not going to raise the tax rate by 8 cents more than what it is now and put that tax burden on the citizens this year,” he said.
Alston acknowledged that technically the Board of Commissioners could simply increase the property tax rate and still collect roughly the same amount of money needed to fund the proposed budget of a version of it modified by the commissioners. But he said doing so would undermine what state lawmakers are attempting to accomplish politically and would effectively shift the burden right back onto county taxpayers.
“If the state wanted to do that, then we’re going to have to probably cut some services,” Alston said of the bill he expects to pass. “We’re just going to have to adjust accordingly.”
His comments suggest the county could face difficult decisions in the coming weeks if the legislation becomes law before Guilford County adopts its final budget, which is expected in about a month.
Alston also said the timing creates a potentially enormous amount of extra work for county officials because the county has already spent months building a budget around revenue projections that could suddenly disappear.
“It would be an awful lot of work,” Alston said, noting that county officials may essentially have to redo major portions of the budget process if the legislation passes.
The chairman praised Isler’s proposed budget and said the county manager and department heads had spent considerable time identifying growing service needs throughout Guilford County government.
“Victor has a very good grasp on what’s needed in the county,” Alston said. “He’s asked his people to be tighter.”
But Alston warned that many of those proposed improvements may now be in jeopardy.
According to Alston, the county may no longer be able to hire some of the additional employees requested by county departments, particularly in rapidly growing areas of the county.
“We’re not going to be able to hire some of the employees that the sheriff was asking for, EMS is asking for, social services is asking for and some of those other department heads are asking for,” Alston said.
Alston said that Guilford County’s growing population has increased pressure on the county’s services, especially in rural areas where growth has accelerated in recent years.
“We have thousands of other people that have moved into Guilford County since last year,” Alston said. “The services for them have to be provided.”
He specifically warned that EMS response times could worsen if staffing increases are delayed or eliminated.
“Now the question would be how long is it gonna take for EMS services to get to you if you’re having a heart attack,” Alston said. “Right now, they can get there in 9 minutes and 48 seconds. Would they possibly have to get there in 15 minutes instead? Possibly.”
Alston said the sheriff’s office could face similar challenges.
“Somebody knocking down your door trying to get in your house to hurt your family – now is it OK for sheriff’s deputies to get there in 20 minutes because the sheriff doesn’t have enough people to be able to cover those areas because of the expanded population?”
Alston also pointed to the Division of Social Services, where he said residents already face long waits for assistance.
“DSS lines are already long,” Alston said. “They’ll probably get longer.”
The chairman said Guilford County Schools could also receive significantly less funding than requested if the county’s revenue projections change.
“They’re not going to be able to get that kind of money,” Alston said of the school system’s request. “The manager might be able to give them somewhere near a fraction of that.”
Alston repeatedly framed the legislation as a political maneuver by Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Republican lawmakers.
“It’s good politics for Phil Berger,” Alston said. “It’s a feel-good thing.”
Alston argued that the measure only delays the impact of higher property valuations for one year and he said taxpayers will still eventually face the increase.
“It delays it for a year,” Alston said. “At the same time next year you’re going to have to add it up.”
The chairman claimed that Berger is thinking ahead politically to future elections.
“Phil Berger is going to be running in 2028 again,” Alston said. “He wanted to get his people circling around him for helping them out this year.”
Berger lost a very close race to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page.
Alston also accused Republican lawmakers of “playing politics” while the state itself hasn’t passed a full budget in two years.
“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have to be doing all these increases because they would’ve been giving the teachers their pay like they’re supposed to,” Alston said.
The revaluation delay bill is currently the issue creating the most immediate concern for Guilford County officials, though lawmakers in Raleigh are also discussing a separate constitutional amendment that could eventually place long-term limits on property tax growth statewide.
However, that second proposal would likely take years to fully implement, while the revaluation legislation could directly impact Guilford County’s budget almost immediately.
For now, Alston said county officials are waiting to see exactly what lawmakers in Raleigh do next week before determining how much of the proposed county budget may have to change.
Chairman Alston says, “I’m not going to raise the tax rate by 8 cents more than what it is now and put that tax burden on the citizens.”
I call BS on this ludicrous statement. It makes no sense at all.
Regardless of what the county says my home is “worth” on paper, I still have the same income and the same expenses to deal with. My ability to pay a tax bill doesn’t magically increase just because a spreadsheet says my house value went up.
A $4,000 tax bill still has to come out of the same bank account balance, whether the county calls it a “rate hike” or a “valuation jump.” You can’t pay taxes with “paper wealth.” If the county can’t fund their $1.1 billion budget without these massive valuation spikes, they are the one living beyond their means—not the taxpayers.
“I’m not going to play that game,” Alston said. “I’m not going to raise the tax rate by 8 cents more than what it is now and put that tax burden on the citizens this year,”
The idea that he blames citizens paying more in property taxes (i.e. tax burden) on the valuation increase shows how stupid he thinks the average Guildford County taxpayer is to not realize that property valuation increases in no way requires the County to charge more taxes for the same property. Many Counties keep tax neutral rates or limit those increases to a rate near inflation.
Glad I left GC.