The city council of High Point’s 2024-25 Proposed Budget includes a 6.9% increase in property tax revenue.
The first paragraph of the Proposed Budget (page MM-1) states “The $518M budget is balanced” and “increases the property tax rate 3.0 cents to 64.75 cents per $100 of property value.”
On page MM-8, Sources and Use of Funds, the Proposed Budget shows a 6.9% Property Tax revenue increase that totals $5,444,840.
On page MM-9, Tax Rate and Collections, the proposed Budget states “The value of one cent in the tax rate will produce approximately $1.36 million of revenue.”
In an email to each council member, I suggested a 1.25% decrease in every line item expense. That would save $6,475,000. This would eliminate the need for a 6.9% increase in property tax revenue.
The city can do everything in the Proposed Budget by reducing expenses by this meager reduction in expenses. There is absolutely no department or project that will fail because their funding was reduced by 1.25%. This is what every family does when faced with a tight budget. No vendor is going to refuse to sell vehicles, supplies, chemicals, products or service to High Point because the city wanted a price that is 1.25% cheaper.
One council member asked about the Fund Balance (savings account) and its current balance of $14,125,091. Where is that money being held and what interest rate is it earning? An unwritten and not required accounting benchmark is for the city to have 8% to 10% of its budget in its Fund Balance. Some accountants recommend a 25% Fund Balance. Apparently, the Proposed Budget is trying to meet the 25% recommendation in one year with a 100.9% increase of $14,249,286. (Page MM-3) It would be wiser to put $5 million or $6 million into the Balance Fund each year for several years to reach that 25% benchmark. Doing this would also eliminate the need for a 6.9% increase in property tax revenue.
Both of these 2 options eliminate the need for a property tax increase. Reduce all expenses by 1.25% or reduce the 100%, $14,249,286 increase in the Fund Balance. If the council does both, the property tax rate can be reduced by 3 cents. THAT would really drive more investment in High Point and SAVE YOU MONEY.
Voice your concerns about the budget and the property tax increase the council is considering.
Ken Orms
High Point, NC
I like the way you think. Great letter.
I can remember when common sense ruled the world, I SURE DO MISS IT IN GOVERNMENT.
I am sorry you can’t help Greensboro. We have nobody that is capable of thinking. Very good letter Mr. Orms.
But that is too much work for officials to figure all that out. It’s way easier to just raise taxes.
Just say no. To any tax increases with the pending recession and inflation still above targets. We can’t afford more government.
So the old tax rate was 61.75 cents and it is going to up 3 cents to 64.75. Basic divisional mathematics is 64.75/61.75=1.048583. 4.8% is nowhere close to 6.9%. You have increased the property tax increase by 44%! How the heck can a reporter not report accurate information? Who can we trust?
Hey Scott, thanks for reading my LTE. Let me share some facts with you. A 3 cent increase is a 4.8% increase which results in a $5,522,658 increase in total property tax income. This is shown on page MM-3 of the 380+ pages of the 2024-25 Projected Budget. I asked the city Budget Director how many residential parcels there were in High Point and what was the average property tax amount. The Director, the guy that creates the budget with the City Manager had absolutely NO IDEA. He had to ask Guilford County. As I mentioned at the Public Hearing held on May 20th, how can the City Manager and Budget Director create and the council consider a budget where nobody in city government has this kind of BASIC INFORMATION. BTW, according to Guilford County there are 39,000 +/- residential parcels in High Point and each parcel pays an average of $1,035 in property taxes. After the last reassessment in 2022, my property taxes increased by almost $1,000, an increase of 28%. When I spoke at a Guilford County meeting, I said that Guilford had the HIGHEST PERCENTAGE of property tax INCREASE IN THE ENTIRE US, even higher than San Francisco. Skip Alston said that Guilford actually had the 2nd HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF PROPERTY TAX INCREASE IN THE COUNTRY. Excuse me. I guess when you are in second place, you need to try harder. While we are talking about taxes, Skip talked about 2 new taxes and an increase in 1 tax for Guiford. One was a PREPARED FOOD TAX which would place a tax on every meal you eat at a fast food restaurant or any restaurant. Skip can’t do this without approval from the NC legislature. The 2nd TAX INCREASE or way in which he wants more money, Skip wants for every community in Guilford to give the county more money for schools. Last time I checked, EVERY RESIDENT already pays taxes to support schools. If this happens, this would be good news for people who live in unincorporated cities in Guilford. The 3rd is the 1/4 cent increase in sales tax for EVERYTHING THAT IS TAXED IN GUILFORD. So Skip and the democrats are consistently looking for new ways to take more money for everybody. The problem is that all these tax increases will hurt people living on a fixed income, seniors, people making minimum wages, lower income people and people who are already living in or below poverty. NO THANKS TO DEMS. When Republicans were in control in Guilford, taxes were reduced several times and income taxes in NC have also been reduced since Republicans took control of the legislature. FACTS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE…DEMOCRATS RAISE TAXES, REPUBLICANS REDUCE THEM.
The City could stop the silly ness of the expense of the new rebranding. How much is that costing taxpayers? That is never mentioned. I guess we saved money, just look at the lower cases letters on the City trucks and vehicles. Wow, all that makes me warm and fuzzy. The City “Rebranding” (logo change) was changed a few years ago, why do it again, especially changing the patches of the Fire and Police Departments. I have talked with first responders from both and nobody likes what the City said they are going to wear on their uniforms. They weren’t asked, they were told. Somebody at City Hall must be getting a “kick back” from somewhere. Hey, I have an idea, lets hold off on further change until more study is done and the economy gets better after the November vote. My gas tank bill will be lower and my grocery store bill will be better.
The City could stop the silly ness of the expense of the new rebranding. How much is that costing taxpayers? That is never mentioned. I guess we saved money, just look at the lower cases letters on the City trucks and vehicles. Wow, all that makes me warm and fuzzy. The City “Rebranding” (logo change) was changed a few years ago, why do it again, especially changing the patches of the Fire and Police Departments. I have talked with first responders from both and nobody likes what the City said they are going to wear on their uniforms. They weren’t asked, they were told. Somebody at City Hall must be getting a “kickback”. Hey, I have an idea, lets hold off on further change until more study is done and the economy gets better after the November vote. My Gas and Grocery bill will be better too.