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Last night the Greensboro City Council passed the 2022-2023 budget. While the budget contains a lot of good things and things that I’ve worked on, I voted against the budget because of the large property tax increase. This was not a surprise, it has been my position from the beginning. Due to the unknowns in the economy and rising inflation I thought we should take a conservative approach.
The reason I did not vote to approve this budget is because YOU should not bear that burden. My goal is to continue making Greensboro a vibrant and affordable city.
This year all properties in Guilford County were re-evaluated to reflect their current market value. This is mandated by law and done every five years. Most people saw a large increase in the value of their property, both residential and commercial. This re-evaluation resulted in the largest property tax base increase that I can recall.
There are many good things in the budget, things that I fought for:
- Significant pay raises for public safety employees (police, fire and GM911)
- 15 new positions in our fire department
- Next phase of Take Home Cars for our police department
- Increasing the “Step Plan” for all general service employees.
- Increasing our commitment to affordable housing
I had two priorities: increasing employee pay to make us competitive with surrounding communities and increasing our commitment to affordable housing. I am pleased that both of those goals were accomplished.
There are other good things in the budget as well and I appreciate the hard work of our City staff and my Council colleagues. In my heart, I know that if it wasn’t for this large re-evaluation we would have found ways to reduce the budget.
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