Greensboro City Manager Trey Davis presented a proposed $913 million budget Tuesday night, May 19, 2026, that would lower the city’s property tax rate to 58.30 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The rate is 8.95 cents below the current 67.25-cent levy, but most Greensboro property owners will still likely see higher city tax bills next year because home and land values surged in the 2026 countywide revaluation.
The plan would increase total spending by $82.7 million, or 9.9 percent, over the current fiscal year 2025–2026 budget. It also projects property tax collections will jump 21 percent to $329 million in the coming fiscal year, with a $485.9 million General Fund inside a $913.2 million total budget across all city funds. For many taxpayers, that is the number that matters: a lower rate does not mean a lower bill when the tax base itself has swollen so sharply.
City finance officials say a true revenue-neutral rate would be about 48 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which puts the proposed 58.30-cent rate 10.3 cents above that benchmark. Scott D. Yost captured the disconnect bluntly, saying that on paper the proposal sounds like a very nice tax cut, but that 2026 is a countywide revaluation year in which property values skyrocketed, so most Greensboro property owners will see higher city tax bills despite the lower rate. He also noted that city finance officials put the revenue-neutral rate at about 48 cents.
The budget now goes to the Greensboro City Council, which is expected to adopt a final spending plan next month before the current budget wraps up on June 30. The larger picture is hard to miss: Greensboro is proposing a lower tax rate while still banking on much more property tax revenue, and Guilford County government is seeing the same pressure from sharply higher values. The question for council is not whether the rate fell. It is how much relief, if any, residents will actually feel when the new bills arrive.
