The Chair of the Guilford County Commission has announced a desire to give some type of a ‘break’ on property taxes to existing businesses to give them an incentive to make improvements or expand the size of their businesses. He points out that making such changes usually increases the value of the property and causes property taxes to go up, which serves as a disincentive to business growth. So, he proposed something like a “rebate” to offset the increase in property tax. But that word caused the county’s lawyers to cringe, because “rebates” are prohibited by state law. Still, the idea, by whatever name it is called, has merit. It makes good sense to encourage existing businesses to grow and expand, because they have already proved their worth to the community and they should be given encouragement to stay in the city. I hope the County Commission can find a way to implement this idea.
I believe that the City of Greensboro should follow the progress of this proposal very carefully; and if the county can find a way to implement it legally, Greensboro should immediately follow suit with a similar plan for its expanding businesses. Even if the county cannot implement its plan, the city should continue to find a way to implement the general idea of the proposal.
The real value of the proposal is that it would automatically apply to any existing business that makes legitimate improvements to or expansions of its business property. It would not take a resolution of the Commission or Council to grant a specific incentive to a specific business, which can take time and involve political issues other than business development. The business would have only to report the improvement or expansion to the tax office in its regular filing each year.
Business development and growth leads to job creation, which leads to a healthy economic outlook, increased sales of goods and increased property values, which leads to greater tax revenues for the city without raising tax rates. It is a win, win situation.
I will propose that the City of Greensboro implement some plan that gives an incentive to all existing businesses that legitimately expand their operations or improve their facilities in the city. This will encourage them to stay in the city and also encourage them to create more jobs for our citizens.
I welcome your comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment