A newly released audit of Guilford County government provides a breakdown of the biggest taxpayers currently compared to the biggest taxpayers a decade ago.

The number one taxpayer has stayed the same. Aside from that, the rankings have changed and some new entries have shown up in the list that no one wants to be number one on at tax time.

Despite no doubt not wanting to be at the top, Duke Energy Carolinas LLC is the number one entity when it comes to assessed value on property. Duke Energy came in first this year as they did in 2013.  The company, with a whopping $709 million in property in the county has the distinction of being the only property owner that owns over a full percentage point of the total assessed value of property in the county.

 Back in 2013, when Duke Energy only owned $384 million worth of property in Guilford County, it was still at the top of the list.

The biggest taxpayers in the county due to owning the most valuable real estate portfolios in the county are as follows.

(2) Lincoln National Life insurance (formerly Jefferson-Pilot) – $414 million in assessed value

(3) Koury SFS LLC (formerly known as Koury Corp.) – $367 million

(4) American Express Travel Related Services – $345 million

(5) Proctor and Gamble Manufacturing – $319 million

(6) ITG brands LLC (formerly Lorillard Tobacco Company) – $319 million

(7) Publix North Carolina – $202 million

(8) Piedmont Natural Gas Company – $195 million

(9) CBL-Friendly Center CMBS LLC – $190 million

(10) International Home Furnishings Center – $171 million

Although that is the list of top taxpayers according to the Guilford County audit, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

The Carroll Companies, not Lincoln National Life Insurance, is actually the second biggest property taxpayer in the county, paying property taxes on $445,238,361 of assessed value. However, because the property is listed under a number of different corporations and not a single entity, The Carroll Companies doesn’t even show up on the list of the top 10.

There are several other corporations in Guilford County that also might fall into this category but because access to the records of private corporations is difficult to obtain, The Carroll Companies (which owns this publication) is the only company for which we have been able to compile the figures.

Publix and Piedmont Natural Gas are the newcomers to the list compared with 10 years ago.

Two that made the list in 2013 but are no longer on it are TYCO Electronics and Highwoods/Forsyth Limited Partnership.

The company making the biggest jump up the list in the last decade was Lincoln National Life Insurance. Back in 2014 when people were still sailing with the pilot, that company only had property valued at $146 million.  In the last decade, the value of property in Guilford County owned by Lincoln National has nearly tripled.

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