Guilford County Reduces Property Taxes With New Budget

Guilford County residents will pay less in property taxes next year under the spending plan passed Thursday by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. The budget was approved 5-4 along party lines.

This year's budget decreases the tax rate by a penny.

Commissioner Jeff Phillips tells the News & Record it's a small decrease, but it represents a move in the right direction. Phillips says it helps chip away at a series of property tax hikes that occurred in the eight years before many of the current commissioners came on the board.

The tax cut comes days after commissioners voted to cease funding various human-services nonprofits in the community. Commissioner Ray Trapp says this caps a contentious budget season that highlighted the differences in priorities between the board's four Democrats and five Republicans.

The $586 million budget takes effect July 1.