County raises rate to collect taxes for town, cities

Paul B. Johnson, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Feb. 2—GUILFORD COUNTY — Cities and towns in Guilford County will pay more for the county to collect their taxes each year.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners voted at its meeting Thursday night to increase the local municipal tax collection rate for the first time in 13 years. The rate will increase from 0.62% to 0.75% in a five-year extension of the contract between the county and municipalities whose taxes are collected by the Guilford County Tax Department.

The city of High Point's cost for the county to collect its property taxes will increase from $433,324 to $524,183. The town of Jamestown's price tag will go up from $17,112 to $20,700.

Overall, raising the rate will push the amount received annually by the county from $1.84 million to $2.22 million. The new rate takes effect for the upcoming 2024-25 fiscal year starting July 1.

Guilford County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairwoman Carlvena Foster told The High Point Enterprise prior to the meeting that county officials consulted with representatives of cities and towns before deciding to raise the rate.

Guilford County Tax Director Ben Chavis first raised the idea of raising the rate publicly at a board work session a month ago. The commissioners approved the rate increase at Thursday's meeting without any discussion.

The county Tax Department administers property tax collections for 12 municipalities and 22 fire districts through what's called an interlocal agreement rate.

In a matter taken up at the board's afternoon work session prior to the evening meeting, the commissioners approved a $26.67 million contract with Blum-WC to complete construction of a new Law Enforcement Administration building in downtown Greensboro for the Guilford County Sheriff's Office. The general contractor for the project is a joint venture between Blum Construction and WC Construction, both based in Winston-Salem.

The total budget for the new complex is $33.6 million. The final completion of the project is expected by early 2026.

pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul