Property tax is an interesting animal.
Everyone pays the same rate. However, people with more resources tend to have more expensive homes, so they end up paying more than those with less expensive homes. Therefore, even though the rates are the same, there is some level of built-in "progressivity".
But that is apparently not enough. Our esteemed city council is discussing tax relief because of the massive increases in valuations that have taken place. However, one city council member-- Justin Outling, who is running for mayor-- wants more:
Councilmember and mayoral candidate Justin Outling said, “Guilford County has a program for tax relief for low income seniors; the city does not.”
He suggested that the city look at a program to provide tax relief for low income property owners in the city.
However, Holston, Hightower and Outling didn’t talk about how the City Council could provide tax relief to all the property owners in Greensboro and is well within the authority of the City Council, which is implementing the “revenue neutral” tax rate for Greensboro.
Outling is running somewhat to the right of incumbent Mayor Nancy Vaughan. However, he is arguing for a more progressive property tax. And progressive taxes-- embraced both by Democrats and Republicans-- is one of the key tenets of the Communist Manifesto.
If this happens, the city circles the drain further.
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