Along with the 30 percent property tax increase in the city manager’s proposed 2022-2023 budget is a 4.5 percent increase in water and sewer rates.
The City Council heard a presentation from the Water Resources Department on the proposed 2022-2023 budget for the department at the Thursday, June 9 work session.
The Water Resources Department operates as a separate enterprise fund, which means Water Resources does not receive revenue from the general fund and it’s budget will not be affected by the 30 percent property tax increase.
The proposed water and sewer rate increase, which seems certain to be approved by the City Council since no councilmember raised any objection to raising the rates, will increase the average bill for a water and sewer customer who is a resident of Greensboro from $49.19 per month to $51.40 per month for a $2.21 increase per month.
Greensboro water and sewer customers who live outside the city are billed at 2.5 times the rate of Greensboro residents and the average monthly bill for those outside the city will increase from $122.70 to $128.22 an increase of $5.52 per month.
Another 4.5 percent increase is projected for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
While Greensboro has the highest property tax rate of any comparable city in the state, it has the second lowest water and sewer rate. Of the top 15 North Carolina cities in population, only Burlington has lower water and sewer rates than Greensboro.
The Water Resources Department had $55.2 million in reserves in 2021 and at the end of this fiscal year that is projected to increase to $62.7, which means after all the expenditures to provide water and sewer service to its customers in the current fiscal year, the Water Resources Department is projected to make a profit of $7.5 million.
Assistant Water Resources Director Kristine Williams said that currently the Water Resources Department had a 15 percent vacancy rate and that usually the number of vacant positions in the department was 6 percent to 8 percent. She commended the employees in the department for wearing a lot of different hats and filling in when necessary.
So if the council and mayor really cared about AFFORDABLE housing why are they doing things to increase the rent? Not to mention the cost on homeowners who do not rent but are low/fixed income? See its all a big lie and joke for them to simply blame GREEDY landlords for their failures the last decade. YOU GET WHAT YOU VOTE FOR!
Since this is a separate resource fund, why do county residents pay 2.5X?
And why is the Water Resource Dept in BUSINESS to make a profit? So why do they need a rate increase?
My brain is getting weak(er) with age, but I still don’t understand this justification.
Furthermore, I want to acknowledge the City & Council’s role in the hastening of the ejection from our home for failure to come up with the rent (taxes). “Royal Estate” it is.
The new property tax rates are absurd! It is just too high! Soon reired people will Not be able to afford thier modest homes! Maybe, this is the plan!
Georgia, it IS the plan. It is re-distribution of wealth – to people who enable it, and to those who support it.
There are more and more people across the country who can longer meet their rent, or their taxes. Higher rents and taxes, couple with wages not keeping up with inflation.
The end result is that most of us will have nothing. We’ll be depending on Big Brother for everything. Those in charge, like Kommisars at the Kremlin, will have everything they need while handing out crumbs to those who kow-tow.
Government, regardless of department, should not be making a profit. When this happens, citizens are being overcharged. What does it matter that Greensboro’s rates are one of the lowest? Is that reason enough to raise rates? I do not think so. It appears that most Greensboro’s citizens are not engaged with their government until they receive their bills and then complain, complain, complain. The barn door is fixed before the animals get out. Do not vote for Nancy Vaughn or any other Council member that has been gathering dust for years. The barn door needs to be repaired.
Keep voting blue. We’ll all be living in vans down by the river. I’ll support a Libertarian or bust.
Throw the bums out!
Just make me King of Guilford County.
they have to pay for the multimillion $$ high tech water treatment equipment to remove the PFAS poison that PTI airport firefighters dumped into our horsepen creek drinking water source on training exercises ! guess why people buy & drink from forever trash plastic bottles ?
My 2c to save water. Shower weekly. Visit City Hall and add to the stink.