Usually, people enjoy getting a little notoriety in the newspaper or on an online website.
However, that’s not true when the purpose of the publicity is to publicly shame you into doing the right thing.
And it’s that time of year again.
At the Guilford County Board of Commissioners meeting last week, the board voted to go ahead and give Guilford County Tax Director Ben Chavis the green light to publicly advertise the names, addresses and amounts owed for every property owner in the county who has not yet paid their property taxes for 2023.
Officially, the board adopted a “Resolution ordering the advertisement of delinquent 2023 tax liens on real property.”
It is something that happens in every county, across the state, every year, and some people enjoy going through the list with fine tooth comb to see if they know anyone who’s on the naughty list that year.
North Carolina law – NC General Statute 105-369 – requires that the tax director in each county report to the Board of Commissioners every year the total amount of unpaid taxes on real property.
Also, by law, upon receipt of the report of unpaid taxes, “the governing body must order the tax collector to advertise the tax liens that are delinquent.” Guilford County used to put the complete list in the News & Record, however, a change in state law now allows the county to save money and post the list online.
About 20 years ago, there were several times when the names of sitting Guilford County commissioners showed up on the published list to their great embarrassment.
However, one former tax director, the late Jenks Crayton, adopted the practice of calling any commissioners who were delinquent before the list was set. It was a courtesy call reminding them that it might be a good idea to get those property tax payments in pronto.
Add to that the investors who ultimately are interested in getting the property at a discount if they can get a response to bail the person out of debt
Any commissioners that didn’t pay their property taxes SHOULD BE ON THE LIST NO MONER IF THEY ARE COMMISSIONERS!!!!!! THEY SHOULDN’T BE TREAT DIFFERENT THAN REST OF USE TAX PAYERS!!!!!! THAT’S DOUBLE STANDARD!!!!!!!!
If there is any shame to dish out , it should all go to the Guilford County Commissioners
Let us hope that Mr Chavez does not post any erroneous listings (lawsuits), or any activists armed with paint cans (or worse) decide that all those terrible lawbreakers need to be punished!
The people who imposed these property taxes should be shamed. If the socialist party is re-elected, see how much more of this you get. Meantime, they are piling on as much of this junque they can while still in power.
They should be put in the naughty list for raising property taxes so high people can barely afford to pay them. Mine doubled and I live in a smaller town. I can only imagine what gbs taxes are like.
Not only did the taxes increase substantially but the newly assessed increases were imposed upon us 2 years before the normal re-assessment time. We should petition for the tax director to be terminated for the ahead of schedule fleecing
Not that anyone including myself likes a tax increase but Jeff, you sir are what is commonly referred to as a mental giant. I bet you’re a regular with the Nextdoor crowd and the Facebook warriors. Y’all need a crash course in how to perform a basic Google search before you embarrass yourself with idiotic assertions.