If you haven’t received it in your mailbox yet, you will any day now – something very special from Guilford County government.
Like most things sent to you via US mail by the government, it’s not something to look forward to: Guilford County has just mailed out its annual tax bills to property owners across the county.
This month, Guilford County mailed out 138,436 property tax bills. An additional 81,565 letter were already in the mail to property owners whose taxes were held in escrow by a mortgage lender.
If you don’t have enough money to pay your bill right now, you do have some time to earn, borrow or steal it. Full payment of your county tax bill on or before Monday, Jan. 6 will keep you from avoiding the interest, which will start to kick in on Tuesday, July 7.
The Tax Department under Guilford County Tax Director Ben Chavis has raised the tax collection rate to very high levels – over 99 percent – in recent years. Tax officials say that a high collection rate means that almost all property owners are paying their “fair share,” and it also, they say, assures that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners has access to nearly all of the legitimate property tax revenue the county is entitled to spend on county services and projects. Property tax revenue is the number one source of county funding each year, followed by sales tax revenue, which comes in a distant second.
The total property tax base for Guilford County for fiscal year 2019-2020 is estimated to be just over $52 billion – that’s nearly a 2 percent increase over the tax base for 2018-2019. That increase should translate into an additional $7 million of property tax revenue this year.
Guilford County offers a discount of 0.5 percent on the bill for current year taxes that are paid by August 31. According to data from the county, about 60 percent of property owners pay their tax bills by that discount deadline. The reduction in tax revenues due to the early payment discount is roughly $1 million, but it means the county gets the money early in the fiscal year so it doesn’t have to hit up any payday loan companies for additional funds during the year.
Over the last several years, the Guilford County Tax Department has been upping its game by aggressively pursuing foreclosures and increasing the use of technology. In order to find all the taxable property in the county and any improvements to the property, the department has been employing an advanced aerial computer pictometry system that discovers unregistered property improvements and any new structures.
The only reason there is a 60% pay rate in August is that escrow is required to pay the smaller amount and not wait until it is really due in January. A half percent discount for paying 4 months early is insane and something should be done about the requirements on escrow to use basic common sense.
And that is why we got out of Guilford county in 2002. We got twice as much house 4 half as much tax. And also just got tired of Skip Alston’s politics.
Government (state, local, and federal) has long understood that it can tax citizens with impunity at the point of its many guns. The US was born from citizens resisting unjust taxation, but even our founding fathers knew that the government they created would eventually cannibalize its self by the weight of unjust taxation. That knowledge is spelled out in many of their personal writings and speeches. Eventually, however, the tax-paying citizens will be bled dry from those who take and do not pay… then what…? That’s the eventuality I’m afraid of.
Oh, yeah, another thing. Ours is up another 2%. Doesn’t sound like much, but that doesn’t include fee increases from all directions. Oh, my plumber just went up 60%, Duke Enerby has asked huge rate increases not only for electricity, but also for natural gas. My exterminator has gone up 60+% in five years, almost exactly 10% per year, compounded. How about the cable bills? Don’t even ask. Ad nauseum. Has anyone had their take-home pay increased enough to cover all this s*(t? Most of this junque is from people who raise their rates because they can (what choice do you have?). Some of it is inflation, which is how the Govt pays their bills. I feel better now.