Greensboro budget cuts tax rate, raises pay, boosts public safety

A Greensboro home that stayed at $300,000 would owe about $1,749 in city tax under Trey Davis’ proposed rate, down from $2,017.50 last year. But a house that jumped from $250,000 to $325,000 in Guilford County’s revaluation would still see the city bill rise to about $1,894.75, even with the rate cut.

That is the tension inside Davis’ recommended $913.2 million budget for fiscal year 2026-27. The plan would lower Greensboro’s property tax rate to 58.30 cents per $100 of assessed value, down 8.95 cents from 67.25 cents, but the city says its revenue-neutral rate is about 48 cents, or roughly $1,440 on a $300,000 home. Guilford County’s 2026 reappraisal took effect Jan. 1, and new values will show up on July tax bills after notices are mailed early in the year. North Carolina law requires counties to appraise property at 100% of market value and to reappraise at least every eight years.

Davis’ proposal includes a $485.9 million General Fund and a compensation package aimed at keeping city pay competitive. It would add a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment, average merit raises of 1.5% for general employees, and 4% step increases for sworn public safety employees. Minimum pay would rise from $20 to $21.25 an hour for benefited employees and from $17.21 to $18 an hour for roster employees.

Public safety sits at the center of the spending plan. The budget keeps money flowing to police, fire, emergency communications, behavioral health response, Guilford Metro 911, contracted security, animal control, fire service agreements, major equipment and public safety technology. It also protects core operating areas that touch daily life in Greensboro, including streets, facilities, utilities, stormwater, water and sewer, solid waste and capital planning.

Housing remains another major line of investment. The budget continues support for homeowner assistance, down-payment help, housing preservation, multifamily production and the Road to 10,000 housing initiative. Those efforts tie back to Housing GSO, the city’s 10-year affordable housing plan approved in 2020, which focuses on affordable rental homes, neighborhood reinvestment, homeownership access and supportive housing.

The new proposal is also notably larger than the $830.6 million budget Greensboro adopted on June 17, 2025, when Council kept the tax rate at 67.25 cents and backed continued work on public safety and infrastructure. That earlier budget included water-main rehabilitation, sewer work, street resurfacing, stormwater improvements and bridge repair.

The Greensboro City Council will hold a public hearing on June 2 and is scheduled to consider final adoption on June 16, just as Guilford County’s roughly 222,000-parcel reappraisal keeps reshaping what the city’s lower rate will mean at the kitchen table.