The 2022-2023 budget proposed by City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba includes an enormous property tax increase of nearly 12 cents, but that’s not the only increase.

The tax rate remains the same at 66.25 cents per $100 valuation, but because Guilford County revaluated all the property in Guilford County, the revenue neutral tax rate is 54.56 cents.  The revenue neutral tax rate would raise the same amount of revenue as if there had been no property revaluation.  Jaiyeoba is recommending no tax rate reduction, which is the equivalent of an 11.69 property tax rate increase.  It represents an unprecedented increase in property taxes for the people of Greensboro.

In the past some councilmembers have said that a property tax rate increase does not affect their constituents because most of them rent rather than own their homes.  However, renters will also be paying this huge tax increase, as landlords will raise rents to cover the increased costs.

But the massive property tax increase is only one of the increases Greensboro residents will be forced to pay, if the City Council passes Jaiyeoba’s proposed budget.  Jaieyeoba is also recommending an increase in water and sewer rates of 4.5 percent, an increase in the monthly municipal solid waste management fee from $2.50 to $3.50 and an increase in the household hazardous waste service fee from 60 cents to 97 cents as well as increases in fire inspection and development fees.

Jaiyeoba’s proposed budget includes adding 69.25 city employees at an estimated cost of $4.7 million.  The nearly 70 new employees include adding three to the city manager’s office, including an additional assistant city manager, so Greensboro will for the first time have a deputy city manager and four assistant city managers, an assistant to the city manager and an intergovernmental relations manager.

The Greensboro Police Department (GPD) is slated to receive eight new sworn officer positions.  Since the GPD currently has over 100 vacant sworn officer positions and that number is moving up, not down, funding eight new positions will not add any police officers to the streets, but will increase the number of funded but unfilled positions in the GPD.

The Greensboro Transit Agency receives 11.5 new employees in this budget – all for customer service and reservation teams.

The Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise (MWBE) office, which reports directly to the city manager, will receive 2.75 new employees – a MWBE specialist, an executive secretary and an office assistant.

The philosophy behind the budget appears to be summed up in what Jaiyeoba states is Greensboro’s “most important resource.”  It isn’t the people and taxpayers of Greensboro or the businesses and industries of Greensboro but, according to Jaiyeoba, the city’s “most important resource: our 3,000+ employees.”