Guilford County residents will not see an increase to county property tax rates following the Board of County Commissioners’ passage of the County’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget on Thursday, June 15, 2023. The Board maintained the County’s current general property tax rate of 73.05₵ per $100, while adjusting the County Manager’s Recommended Budget to support an additional $15 million in funding for education.
“With the passage of this balanced budget, we are maximizing existing County revenue to bolster funding for education, innovative programs to support the wellbeing of residents of all ages, and efforts to attract and retain businesses, jobs, and economic development in our area,” said Chair of the Guilford County Board of County Commissioners Melvin “Skip” Alston. “Every resident benefits from this budget in some way, whether it’s spending time in a county park; enjoying healthy, safe food from your local restaurant; adopting a new pet; having somewhere to turn when a mental health or substance use crisis occurs; or having the peace of mind from knowing our first responders are trained, fairly paid, and equipped to handle any emergency. Our People Matter and this Board is committed to One Guilford, where successful people thrive in a strong community supported by a quality government.”
The Board adjustments to the recommended budget included:
- $15.4 million for Guilford County Schools operations to support pay adjustments for classified employees
- The annual budget adopted by the Board of Commissioners continues a historic investment by allocating more than $395 million, or nearly half of the County’s general operating budget, to support Guilford County Schools, including funding for operations, facility needs, and repayment of voter approved school bonds
- $500,000 for Guilford Technical Community College to support current operations
- $60,000 additional funds for Economic Development Agencies to support continued economic development successes ($565,000 total investment)
- $255,000 additional for Community Based Organizations, including $140,000 for the Town of Oak Ridge to repair ADA ramps and complete security improvements ($1.9 million total investment)
- One new position for an Emergency Services mechanic
- Five new positions for the Tax Department to support the 2026 reappraisal process
- These additions are funded through updated revenue projections, additional fund balance, and other reductions in the budget.
Additional highlights from the budget include:
- $1.1 million to expand school health services by adding ten school nurses and $150,000 to create a School Health Alliance partnership to support a sustainable model for school health clinics constructed during the $2 billion school construction bonds program
- $600,000 to implement a new specialized Child and Family Support and Early Intervention Team of seven social workers and staff to provide primary prevention services and serve as a “warm line” of communication to support child safety. In collaboration with stakeholders, including families with lived experience, community leaders and houses of worship, and service providers, the team will support primary preventive services to improve child safety and well-being, prevent foster care system involvement, and address disproportional representation of children and families of color in the child welfare system.
- $360,000 for an Adult Welfare Community Team of four social workers to work in collaboration with the Family Justice Center (FJC) and Emergency Services (ES) to provide enhanced support and care for people who regularly use emergency services, like EMS and Fire Services, for non-emergency situations. These callers are often low-income, without shelter, or have special needs that do not require emergency-level responses and are beyond the scope of regular EMS and Fire responsibilities. By implementing this program, the County expects to divert at least 600 calls to more appropriate support services, freeing up Emergency Services and Fire resources for more serious calls.
- $575,000 to support efforts to reduce infant mortality and improve infant survival and wellbeing, especially among black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) families; and $430,000 to enhance access to healthcare through a Mobile Health Clinic.
- $3.5 million for mental health, behavioral health, and medical services for people in the Greensboro and High Point Detention Centers as well as the Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Greensboro; and continued investment in the replacement of critical equipment, technology, and vehicles, primarily in Law Enforcement ($3.4 million) and Emergency Services ($2.7 million).
- $5 million to add 59 positions in the Department of Health and Human Services to prepare for the expansion of Medicaid. Approximately 200,000 Guilford County residents are expected to qualify for Medicaid under the upcoming statewide Medicaid expansion.
- $2.4 million in additional funding for anticipated incentive grant payouts associated with recent economic development successes. During the last two years, companies have announced expansion plans that include more than $900 million in private investment and nearly 2,400 jobs.
- $550,000 for the Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) Department to establish a Capital Access Program which is designed to provide financial support to small businesses owned by minorities and women, with the goal of increasing the availability of capital to MWBEs that may not have easy access to traditional funding sources due to their size, lack of collateral, or limited credit history. This amount includes $100,000 for the County’s MWBE Department to partner with community organizations in High Point and Greensboro to further support MWBE firms.
- $12.2 million in county funds to continue gains in staff recruitment and retention through the County’s competitive pay plan and reinstatement of performance-based merit increases; and $400,000 to completely overhaul the County’s existing 1,700 page website to be clearer, easier to navigate, and fully accessible for all users.
The recommended total for all budgeted funds is $926.5 million. The County’s main operating fund, the General Fund, will total $840.1 million, when excluding the $19 million previously allocated for ARPA enabled projects, the year over year increase totals $37.3 million or 4.7%.
Across all funds, the budget includes a total of 2,938.38 positions, a net increase of 36.13 positions. This is equivalent to about 5.3 positions per 1,000 residents, one of the lowest position-to-resident ratios in the state. New positions include staff to support Medicaid expansion, more school nurses, EMS support staff, tax appraisers, an Adult Welfare Community Team, and new Child and Family Support and Early Intervention Team. Most positions are partially or fully funded from non-county sources. 58 positions will be eliminated because related funding sources are no longer available.
Guilford County has 24 fire protection and service districts that provide fire response service in areas of the County not serviced by a municipal fire department. The primary funding for each district is property tax revenue generated by a special district tax. Adopted tax rates for fire districts are included in the budget, including a 1.69 cent property tax increase for the Colfax (Kernersville) Fire Service District.
Fiscal Year 2024 begins July 1, 2023 and runs through June 30, 2024. The approved FY2024 budget will be available on the Guilford County website.
