Some City of Greensboro projects move so slowly it’s difficult to tell that they are moving at all; others move at the equivalent of bureaucratic light speed.
The Greensboro Low-income Homeowners Assistance Program is in the second category.
The program to offer property tax rebates to low-income homeowners was first proposed to the City Council at the Thursday, March 16 work session. The City Council rarely takes action at work sessions, but the program received tacit approval at the work session. City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba said that he could move forward with the program to give $250,000 in tax rebates to low-income homeowners without formal approval from the City Council. However, Mayor Nancy Vaughan said she wanted a formal vote and the item was placed on the agenda for the Tuesday, March 21 meeting where it was approved.
Now, one month and a day after the Low-income Homeowners Assistance Program was first proposed, the city has announced it is accepting applications.
Councilmembers have waited over six months just to get an item they requested on a work session agenda. The Downtown Greenway, a 12-foot-wide sidewalk around the central business district, which was first proposed in 2001, is still about a mile short of being completed. When it is finished it will be about four miles long.
But the Low-income Homeowners Assistance Program is proof the city has the ability to move projects along at a much faster pace.
The program offers tax rebates to low-income homeowners equal to the difference between their 2021 city property tax bill and their 2022 property tax bill. The City Council increased Greensboro property taxes by about 30 percent in 2022 and evidently decided that was too much for low-income homeowners.
To qualify for the tax rebate for a one-person household the total annual gross income for 2022 must be $41,000 or less. A household of two or more people must have a total annual gross income of $47,000 or less to qualify.
Information about the eligibility requirements and an outline of the application process is available at www.greensboro-nc.gov/PropertyTax. Applications are also available at all Greensboro public libraries.
I paid my taxes, why can’t you pay yours? It is not my fault, or obligation, to contribute to your support.
Why not reduce taxes for all in Greensboro?
The key word here is “equity”. Not equality, but equity.
If you can afford to give refunds then you are over charging all home owner. I am on a fixed income and to go up on my home more than $700 is outrageous. Now, covid is over please lower our taxes.
If Greensboro government can afford to give money back that means they are over charging the tax payers. I barely can come up with the extra money to pay mine now. Cut taxes on the property.