When it comes to land, houses, buildings and other items in Guilford County that are subject to property taxes – well, there’s now more than $55 billion worth of it.
That value has climbed nearly 50 percent over the last decade and, with new businesses coming in and more homes being built, there’s every reason to expect that number will keep climbing.
That $55 billion and change makes up the county’s tax base and that’s one reason the Guilford County commissioners have given themselves permission in recent years to spend money any time a proposal comes before them.
As long as the tax base is increasing – with new houses and new buildings being built, and by the values of existing structures and land increasing – the county commissioners have an opportunity to get their hands on many millions in new revenue each year without having to raise the tax rate.
The actual total value of real estate in Guilford County is greater than the $55 billion tax base because many properties in the county, such as schools, government-owned land, qualifying churches, etc., are exempt from property taxes and not included in the county’s tax base.
Ten years ago, in fiscal year 2013-2014, Guilford County’s tax base was $36.9 billion. In fiscal year 2014-2015, it increased to $37.3 billion and grew to $37.6 billion the following year. The value increased yearly and hit $43.3 billion in fiscal year 2021-2022.
The value of the tax base then shot up over $10 billion to $54.5 billion after a countywide revaluation of property took place at a time when housing and other real estate prices were sky high.
Though that $54.5 billion was the assessed value, subsequent sales of real estate in the county showed that number was significantly lower than the actual values so the county is being forced by state law to conduct a new early appraisal of all the real estate in Guilford County by 2026. That will mean even higher tax bills for most county property owners even if the tax rate remains unchanged.
Currently, the estimated actual value of the county’s tax base is $55.3 billion.
Very informative!
Years ago, my father-in-law told me “if you have to much, they will take it away from you”.
Citi,ens better vote wisely. Read between the lines.
Why should the average homeowner pay higher and higher property taxes when retirement homes like River Landing, Abbotswood at Irving Park, Friends Home, and Well-Spring Retirement Home (owned by the same group as River Landing) pay no property taxes but receive the same services from government as the taxpayer. Please explain to the property owners in Guilford County how this is fair. The cost to simply move in and call either of these places home is hundreds of thousands of dollars. The average retired Guilford County resident could not begin to afford the move-in fee. The monthly fees to live in these places are thousands of dollars. Ask Councilmember Hoffman, she lives in one of the aforementioned retirement homes. River Landing has a nine-hole golf course open to the public, a daycare open to the public, and a restaurant, open to the public. How can River Landing justify receiving all the tax-free benefits as a retirement home while operating a daycare, restaurant and a golf course. Really? There are not a lot of elderly people that have need for daycare services. River Landing’s argument for needing a daycare was to have a place for the retirees to leave their grandchildren. Really? How many children who attend Shepherd’s Way are grandchildren of any retirees who call River Landing home? My guess is zero. The Raleigh legislature wrote the statute that allows this unfair tax burden that affects property taxpayers in N.C. Write your Raleigh rep. to repeal this unfair statute. I suspect that most members of the state legislature have no idea this statute exists. Once the lobbying takes place to pass a specific statute, the statute is forgotten about until someone begins asking questions.
“ That will mean even higher tax bills for most county property owners even if the tax rate remains unchanged”
And don’t think for a moment your fearless County Officials aren’t aware of this. Want hire taxes? Keep your elected officials in office.
Just wait for the coming “market correction” They’re not going to like it when that drops by $10BB.
Whether these Socialists realize it or not, with the current state of things, as a whole we’re actually worse off than people were during the Great Depression.
With the Fed manipulating rates, the Treasury printing funny money, no Gold Standard to back the dollars, and freely giving our tax dollars to the lazy & the illegals, we will continue the downward spiral to hell.
As someone once said, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” That usually doesn’t work out in the long run.
“…worse off than people were during the Great Depression.” That is the silliest thing I have ever read here..
We are at full employment, record high stock market, inflation almost back below 3%, increasing incomes and even fuel is affordable again.
But please go live in your bunker and let the adults work on the issues that do remain such as housing issues, increasing wealth gap and federal deficits.
Yet Skip still wants a tax increase.