Guilford County homeowners who’ve been watching their property tax bills climb in recent years may be able to get some of that money back from the county.
Beginning on Sunday, Aug. 16, Guilford County’s Low-Income Homeowner Assistance Grant program will open to all homeowners who meet the program’s income and other eligibility requirements.
The program opened July 15 exclusively to residents 65 and older – giving seniors a 30-day head start. Now the age restriction is going away and any qualifying homeowner can apply.
The Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved the Department of Social Services grant program on March 27 as a way to help lower-income homeowners deal with the rising cost of owning a home. The grants are one-time payments made directly to homeowners.
Perhaps most importantly for anyone who qualifies and plans to apply, this isn’t a program where waiting until the deadline is a good idea. The county says grants will be awarded in the order that complete applications are received and will continue only until the available money runs out.
To qualify, a homeowner’s household income can’t exceed 80 percent of the area median income. That means the maximum income ranges from $53,200 for a one-person household to $100,350 for a household of eight. The limits in between are $60,800 for two people, $68,400 for three, $76,000 for four, $82,100 for five, $88,200 for six and $94,250 for seven.
There are quite a few strings attached. For instance, applicants must own and occupy the Guilford County home as their primary residence and must have owned it for at least five consecutive years. They must also be the person responsible for paying the property taxes.
The home’s total property tax value for the 2025 tax year can’t be more than $250,000.
There also can’t be any outstanding liens, assessments or delinquent Guilford County taxes on the home – and applicants can’t have received assistance from another Guilford County tax assistance program for their 2025 tax bill.
The amount of an individual grant will be based on the difference between the Guilford County property taxes the homeowner paid in 2021 and those paid in 2025.
The grant doesn’t eliminate a homeowner’s obligation to pay the property tax bill. County officials specifically note that the program doesn’t change the requirement that property taxes be paid in full or prevent the Tax Department from collecting delinquent taxes.
Applications will remain open through Saturday, Oct. 31 – assuming the money lasts that long.
Residents can apply online at GuilfordCountyNC.gov/HomeownerAssistance.
Those who prefer to use paper can pick up an application at either Guilford County Department of Social Services office – 1203 Maple St. in Greensboro or 325 E. Russell Ave. in High Point.
Completed applications can also be mailed to Guilford County DSS at P.O. Box 3388, Greensboro, NC 27402, or P.O. Box 1142, High Point, NC 27261.
Online applications must be submitted by midnight Saturday, Oct. 31.
The county’s DSS offices will accept paper applications until 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30. After that, applications can still be placed in the secure drop box outside either DSS office through the Halloween deadline.
More information, including an eligibility quiz, is available at GuilfordCountyNC.gov/HomeownerAssistance. Residents can also email liha@guilfordcountync.gov or call 336-641-6336.
And, since the county is handing out the grants in the order complete applications arrive, qualifying homeowners probably shouldn’t circle Oct. 31 on the calendar as the day to get started on this.
Excluding your home, you have to be virtually bankrupt to get any assistance. I won’t be enough to save you from inflation, taxation, medical care, cost of your auto (if you have one).
Our federal government is inflating us to death (at our own request wanting “free” stuff), and our local govts is taxing us out of our homes into poverty. Death & taxes, which wins first?
Do you have to provided a photo ID card to apply?
That is so .I have been looking over all the debt I owe,and that post made me laugh.Thank you.
Scott can you tell me where this “county homeowner assistance grant” money comes from.
Uh, Rebel, that would be from you and me and other county taxpayers.
Scott I’m sure you could feel the dripping sarcasm in my question.
Yes, I could, but for the sake of other readers I wanted to double check that it wasn’t some sort of federal or state grant. It is of course not.
If it were a federal or state grant, the money would still come from us, the taxpayers.
If I understand the assistance correctly, when you sell your house, Die or move, you will pay back what the county has given you probably with interest. Nothing’s for free.
Will this credit also apply to renters whose rent will increase by that same proportional amount?
Why does the county and city not remove all the biased programs for certain citizens so that all citizens can have lower taxes? As a senior, I have limited resources and I can’t afford floating the boat for illegals, invited homeless and other numerous government grifters. All these fantasy new taxpaying citizens haven’t showed up and probably will not. Pipe dreams don’t pay the bills.
Wow, you got all the BS conservative propaganda talking points all in one sentence, Goebbels would be proud of you.
Notes on your hateful BS:
– Illegals are not an issue in Greensboro…and besides, they don’t collect any public benefits with the exception that their kids are allowed access to public schools
– Homeless people aren’t invited, they naturally accumulate near the services offered by State and Local governments given that most can’t afford to own cars. Ignore the homeless at your peril.
– Calling people in need of Federal, State, or Local benefits grifters is just cruelty masquerading as ‘fiscal responsibility’.
But you be you
Thank you professor! You coninue to be my guiding light!
Your rants against others with whom you disagree, lean heavily on your worn out ‘you be you’ slogan. Why not say what you really mean. Boiled down it’s: here’s my undeniable truth and you have no part in it. Dictatorial and intransigent, like most leftist democrats. But then, you be you, right?
Interesting that you interpret “you be you” as “you have no part in it,” when what I actually mean is considerably simpler: you’re entitled to your opinion; you’re not entitled to have your opinion treated as fact simply because you stated it loudly.
Disagreement isn’t dictatorial. Asking for evidence isn’t intransigent. And pointing out that someone’s claim doesn’t survive contact with the facts isn’t “leftist”…..it’s called having standards for evidence.
You don’t have to agree with me. But if your argument depends on everyone accepting your assertions as “truth” while dismissing contrary evidence as political ideology, perhaps the irony of calling me dictatorial isn’t quite landing.
But then, you be you.
sellers of stuff going in “pipes” can pay their bills but we have fine southern baptists around who KNOW these sellers are parasites & psychopaths
Tenants do not pay property taxes directly, but the cost is built into their monthly rent as a primary operating expense for the landlord. According to the National Apartment Association, 11 cents of every $1 paid in rent covers property taxes. Of course, it seems that Guilford County renters would pay less than 11centers. Using 10 cents of every dollar paid by a renter for the landlord’s property taxes, $100.00 dollars of $1,000 monthly rental payment goes for property taxes. This translates to $1,200 annually; $2,000 monthly rent is $2,400 annually toward landlord’s property taxes.
Of course, the above is not absolute because there are variables. But given this exercise, it appears clear that renters should be concerned about property tax rates. The higher the property tax rate, the greater the rent increase to cover the landlord’s property taxes.
This information along with the recently received Guilford County tax bills from the county commissioners is a clarion call to Guilford County residents to pressure the Raleigh Legislature to follow the lead of other states and eliminate property taxes in favor of a more equitable way to finance county government.
What do you think is more equitable? They spend, you pay. What system do you think is ‘fairer’? Property taxes are progressive, but all families contribute directly or indirectly. It covers both personal and commercial. Paying taxes stinks, not sure changing the allocation method is the problem as much as the government spending itself.
I agree that there is a serious government spending problem. However, schools take up the majority of a county’s budget (61+%). Public school attendance is dwindling yet more money is now spent on public schools. How many households paying property taxes in Guilford County have children or grandchildren in public schools? There needs to be a better way to finance schools, and better oversight of the schools and school systems. A large part of Guilford County’s budget goes to finance billion-dollar bonds…for schools. And still schools are failing. New buildings do not contribute to school results. They just put shine on a turd. Schools have become political with no real interest in the students.
Property taxation goes back hundreds of years, thousands of years, but children’s education was not part of property taxes then, and it should not be today. The cost of public schools should be paid by another source, not property taxes.
Guaranteeing an education for every child regardless of economic situation, physical or mental condition and/or level of parental support is far more expensive than say private schools that can be highly selective in who they admit and what services they offer (such as buses, sports, medical care, etc….)….therefore the cost has to be spread across the full tax base. You don’t get to opt out just because you don’t currently use the service. That’s not how it works. Like with Fire protection, you pay for it even if you have never had to call the fire department.
It is mostly a myth that central administrative costs make public schools expensive. GC has cut so many non-teach roles from schools including teacher assistants, school nurses, testing coordinators, etc…
There are many more positions that can be cut in city service administration (middle management roles) before school spending should be cut.
I don’t see any way around it. Most people complain but few have real solutions that would actually work. I just have no patience for those that claim cutting public school funding since they are struggling is a solution…..that would just make things worse. Always has and always will. We are reaping what we sowed with the cutting of infrastructure maintenance for schools.
Wish I had a magic answer.
I know of no one arguing for the elimination of public education. My position is twofold. One, property taxes should not be used to fund public education. There should be a funding source not based on the value of real property owned. The source should be from state funds and the distribution of funds should be based on a criteria that meets the needs of every student regardless of zip code. Two, there must be a return to civic education, which includes learning how a democratic republic works; our constitution, and what it means to be a citizen of the United State. A civic education also includes history and economics.
Cameras should be in every classroom. Intercoms have been in classrooms (public address systems) since the 1940s and 1950s. Why not expand that to cameras and allow parents and guardians access?
Schools should reduce funds spent on sports in favor of engaging all students in physical activity, including healthy eating.
Student phones should be banned from schools. They cause a lot of harm to mental health and are a distraction from learning. Think about classrooms before cell phones.
Administration positions in public education should be reduced in favor of higher salaries for teachers and by this, I mean quality teachers, not teachers who were trained in a woke or new age university. Another quality of an effective teacher is temperament, an old but important word.
So, no one is advocating for doing away with public education, just the funding as well as curriculum and behavior modification.
Oh, you don’t read Austin’s posts. There are many who want to use vouchers which would basically destroy public education except for the poorest of the community. But confess it is an overstatement on my part possibly.
Civic education still exists. Why do you think it doesn’t? It is covered in a class called social studies.
Where does this source of funds come from if not property taxes? Open to new ideas but to me all taxes stink.
You want Camera’s on you every day, all day while at work? Bet you don’t. What qualifies a parent to judge the quality of a teacher? Teachers go to college for 4 to 6 years to learn how to educate children, either you trust them to do their job or you homeschool your own kids. It is the same logic that police use to push back against civilian oversight boards of police complaints. I don’t disagree with their point of view.
What administration jobs do you think should be eliminated? Benefits administration? Recruiting and Teacher training? Facilities maintenance and janitorial services? Front Desk services at each school? Athletics director? Finance and Accounting Administration? Principles? Vice-Principles? Be specific…..I think you making an assumption of the number of roles that could be cut without impacting students and teachers alike.
I agree on phones. Keep em out of schools. Call the front desk and have them take a message to your kid if critical.
Thanks for the civil discussion. Very uncommon here.
‘religions’ have magic answers that have failed for thousands of years. affluent parents generally do a good job educating & acquiring ‘educators’ for their kids: flexibility is key & wealthiness of culture & finances educates the best !
ditto. how do we do big things together & pay for it ? with ~12 good ideas that could be combined then gardened flexibly. start with this idea: a CONTRACT is an agreement between parties establishing BEHAVIOR in the face of an uncertain future. & THAT is how we spend OUR $$ & call it TAXES ? i am willing to provide my labor in lieu of taxes . . . teach fix build wipe butts . . .
the guvmnt is encouraging YOU to buy property so YOU will pay them an unpredictable property tax. this is my idea 2 reduce the vice called Materialism. bwa ha ha
professor, let me share, “according to the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), which updated its official definition in November 2023, it is the study of individuals, communities, systems, and their interactions across time and place that prepares students for local, national, and global civic life.” What a woke, nebulous definition of social studies, and if public schools are applying this definition to teaching, that helps explain why public schools are failing. Public schools allow wiggle room by design to explain failure. Surly, you can understand that. Please re-read my comment about civics study. My recommendations are specific.
There should be guidelines regarding cameras. One guideline could be about use of cameras after receiving complaints against a particular teacher. Cameras in use in classrooms when classroom is empty. Cameras in use periodically without teacher’s knowledge. Just a few suggestions. Cameras are not just for subpar teachers but for effective teachers to understand what makes them an effective.
Reducing administration positions? I would start with the main office, not the schools. This would not be conducted as a witch hunt; but rather a sincere audit of need for a position. Then I would start with the schools with an evaluation of need. How many assistant principals are needed? I would look at money spent on substitute teachers and why. I would review the money spent on employees compared with money spent on students.
I would require all students to speak English and to learn in English. I would require all students to be citizens of the United States. We can no longer be a nanny state for the world. Another requirement that I believe would be effective for learning and reduce the student population to a classless group is uniforms.
What is woke about that definition? Sure it is wordy but to be complete and yet concise wording can be challenging to keep it accurate. To be clear, the State, not the Federal, government sets curriculum so again not sure what the concern is with what you have shown her as it really isn’t directly representative of what actually happens in NC school rooms.
You will never get to bought into the idea of cameras available to parents. I live the golden rule….I would never want to be on camera for public view at any time while at work. One thing I will note is that due to Teacher Unions, Principles have very little ability to actually discipline an underperforming teacher, and this is a core problem in our school systems today. But cameras isn’t the solution. Letting a principal fire an underperforming teacher is the right solution. cut and dry in my point of view.
I am all for reduced middle management (in corporations we do a Span of Control audit to find bloat in management) but I think you will be disappointed in the amount of the savings…..given the majority of cost is in teachers and school support staff versus central administration. but sure an audit is always a good idea very 5 to 10 years as corporations typically do.
All students are asked to speak English. The school system even has a special school for kids to jump start their English before being ‘mainstreamed’. You can’t require all students to be citizens. That would exclude millions of kids of legal immigrants that came with their parents to the US legally. Help me understand how that makes sense to you?
I have never understood the uniform thing…..just more cost for little value. You would have to show me how that actually has any real benefit to a public school system given so many students come from low-income families that struggle to dress their kids in the first place.
Thanks again for the civil conversation.
Woke as used is extreme political liberalism, which is superficial and insincere. Yet woke is allowed in education. I offer as an example schools’ failure to properly educate students as confirmed by test scores.
How to identify an underperforming teacher? Test scores are not the only measure of an underperforming teacher. A teacher’s temperament is important to students’ learning. If a teacher acts like (s)he would rather be anywhere than in the classroom, this attitude carries over to the students. Schools must find qualified teachers and allow teachers to teach the subject they are qualified to teach. To ask a geography teacher to teach math is a non-starter.
How would we know the level of bureaucratic bloat in middle management unless no one looks. Assumptions are a poor way of measuring anything.
Your comments about excluding millions of kids of legal immigrants from the classroom is not worth my time to respond. Your comments are too woke for me.
As far as the “uniform thing,” Low-income families find a way to buy expensive accoutrements for their kids to wear to school, why not uniforms? Uniforms could be basic dress, no frills. If your primary argument against uniforms for school kids is low income, this argument does not work when viewed with the facts.
I would need real evidence to show the linkage to poor test scores and ‘extreme liberal policies’. I hear this chanted by conservatives yet have never seen any evidence. Same with Alan claiming that schools indoctrinate kids to be ‘liberals’. Again, no evidence of this has even been show.
There are a number of reasons for failings of public schools. Most studies list the following:
– Covid Pandemic Learning Loss From Extended Disruption
– Chronic Absenteeism
– Changes in how reading is taught: States that didn’t implement the new ‘science of reading’ reforms significantly lag those states that did
– Multi Screen distractions – social media, smart phones, etc…. Reading is no longer a form of recreation for latest generation
If you have any credible evidence that DEI or Woke politics has anything to do with test score, please share. So far I have only seen it as a meme by those that try to politized everything as a distraction from the real problems.
Administration Costs: I never said don’t look….but also don’t state as a fact. Given the small percentage that central administration, I don’t think it is a big difference maker.
You don’t get to dodge the topic of legal immigrant kids. If you idea of not educating them, what do you propose happens to them? Run wild in the streets? Child labor? You are ignoring the cost of ignoring the need. That isn’t woke….that is common sense.
Uniform…you are promoting the myth of the welfare queen as promoted by Reagan? You claim “when viewed with facts” yet you stated no facts and provided no evidence. To help, here is an example of what facts look like and supported by a source:
A major review of the research on school uniforms specifically examined the economic burden on poorer families. It found evidence from multiple countries, including the United States, that uniform costs fall disproportionately heavily on lower-income families. The review notes that poorer parents in the U.S. spend a higher percentage of their income on uniforms and that the cost can become a barrier for disadvantaged families. Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8386814/
Will be interesting to see your source that poor people can afford expensive clothes that have only a limited use.
Cheers
How would you define an under performing teacher. What metrics would you use.
every salaried employee should/could be teaching at least one ‘class’ – from kitchen to maintenance/repair to head office
Cameras in classrooms will help settle the argument around poor student performance tied to liberal teaching policies. Classroom observation is the real true test of what is taught and the way it is taught. Liberals learned a long time ago that words matter. They can be used to educate or manipulate. Liberals have chosen manipulation.
Covid should not be used to explain failing schools. Guilford County schools were failing long before Covid. Covid worsened the failure.
As far as how reading is taught, how many different ways can “run Jane, run” be taught. I do believe that after basic reading skills are taught, there should be a serious effort to teach two things about reading: the origin of words and phonetics.
Regarding the cost of uniforms and the impact on poor families, every family makes choices about how money is spent, regardless of the amount at their disposal. Uniform dress is the same day after day. No choices to make about daily attire, just the same boring uniform that makes students feel a part of a larger community. To lighten the financial burden for every family with children in public schools, uniforms could consist of shirts only and pants, a choice. By observation, girls don’t wear dresses to school as often as in the past. I stand corrected if I am wrong about the dress-thing.
Multiscreen distraction is an easy fix; don’t allow them in schools. Period.
As far as illegal immigrant children, there must be an illegal parent somewhere. What are illegals doing here? The main problem with our illegal problem is employers. I do not have a bleeding heart for illegals. There are many more causes that deserve our bleeding hearts. If we keep adding to our bleeding hearts, eventually we exhaust our own blood.
We will just have to agree to disagree on cameras. Expensive and ineffective if not downright counterproductive.
You bring up again the ‘liberal teaching policies’ claim yet again with no evidence to back your claim. I will just write this off to you be gullible to conservative propaganda on this topic as I have never seen any real evidence by any conservative that this is a real issue impacting kids testing scores
I don’t disagree that schools were failing before covid….covid did however make it worse and sharpened the curve in poor test score trends. Happy to share article about those studies if interested.
What does girls wearing dresses have to do with anything? Again, we will have to agree to disagree on uniforms. There are a number of studies that give conflicting views on the value of uniforms in schools. At best those studies that did find improvement, the improvement was marginal at best.
Parents. Parents seem to be the ones pushing back against the taking of phones in school. I am a huge fan of the idea and am glad to see it making progress around the US. Hopefully they will do it in NC soon. No question in my mind it will make a difference. There are a number of studies that support this as a significant way to improve learning focus in schools with significant improvements in test score within 2 years of implementing the policy.
So….are you now in agreement that legal immigrant children belong in public school? I get the argument of illegal immigrants. Hope you have come round on legal immigrants. I don’t think we will ever agree on illegal immigrant kids so won’t go into the downsides of ignoring them.
Cheers
Proof of liberal teaching policies? Conservative teaching methods and policies focus on students learning the basic facts around the subject taught. Liberal teaching methods and policies focus on satisfying every minority student’s preferences. Schools cannot function well if a major concern is catering to every different culture represented in the classroom. English is our official language. It is not the schools’ responsibility to teach students how to speak our language. It is the parents’ responsibility that their children learn the language before entering school. Parents should not shift responsibility to schools. The same with discipline. If a student is misbehaving to the point of disciplinary action, at that point, call the parents/guardians. Schools should not waste other kids’ time on students who are disruptive in school.
You are correct about the dress thing. I was trying to include dresses in the school uniform question. As far as uniforms and students’ test results, what about behavior? Have there been any published results about uniform effects on overall student behavior?
What is wrong with parents who are in favor of phones in school? We’ve had almost 200 years of phone-free public schools and kids learned just fine. This is a strong statement, but supporting phones in schools is a failure to act in the best interest of children.
Again you aren’t sharing any evidence of anything other than what I assume are your personal assumptions of what happens in classrooms. All students receive the same lessons and are graded the same way. I think how schools deal with disapline and failing students is a big problem and has become too soft handed but that was more a result of ‘no child left behind policies’ from Bush so not sure it can be called liberal…. although liberals are typically ‘softer’ on direct accountability. Curriculum is established at the State level which is very conservative at the moment. Do you have an antidotal example of what you are talking about?
There are a number of studies on uniforms. Most so no impact to test scores and those that show some improvement it is minimal. So a waste of money in my view.
I think you misunderstood my comment……parents are the ones that insist their kids be allowed to have phones in schools. I think phones should be locked up during school hours. Studies shows it make a significant improvement in scores.
My only comment; George Bush was not conservative. I always thought of him as mediocre in every way, a follower not a leader, and of low intellect. He was propped up by others.
Well thank again for the civil exchange of differing points of view. Was insightful.
Real Estate is one of the best investments. However, you REALLY need to know what you are doing, such as actually being in it. (I’ve known real estate agents, when learning of new listings, have developed a habit of buying underpriced properties before anyone else gets to it first. You’ll need some cash for this.) If you are handy, a fixer-upper can work.
If not, buy a good REIT. I do, one in apartment rentals, and one in the custodial living business. A REIT has to pay out almost all it’s net profits to the shareholders.