The Pitt County Board of Commissioners and Greenville City Council will learn the proposed property tax rates for their respective governmental entities when their respective staffs deliver fiscal year 2024-25 budget presentations on Monday.
With that information, property owners can begin to calculate what their tax bills will be in fiscal year 2024-25.
The City Council and Board of Commissioners both meet at 6 p.m. in their respective chambers.
Part of both governments budget preparations involved developing new tax rates based on property value changes following the property reappraisals released by the county in February.
State law requires counties to undergo a reappraisal process, sometimes called revaluation, to ensure a property’s tax value is the same as its market value. The state requires reappraisals at least every eight years, but they can be done over a shorter period of time. Pitt County conducts reappraisals every four years.
Between 2020, when the last reappraisal was done, and this year, Pitt County’s total tax base grew 34 percent, rising from $16.7 billion to $22.5 billion. There was a 46 percent increase in real property values, buildings and land during the same time period, said Pitt County Tax Administrator Russell Hill.
When reappraisals take place, especially when real property values increase, local governments typically adjust their property tax rates.
State law requires that when counties conduct reappraisals, local governments need to include in their budget a revenue-neutral property tax rate. The revenue‑neutral property tax rate is the rate that is estimated to produce the same amount of revenue under the new property values as was produced under the previous property values. Part of the revenue-neutral property tax calculation includes factoring in the average annual percentage increase in the county’s tax base brought on by growth not associated with the value changes but activities such as the construction of new homes and businesses.
State law does not require local governments to adopt a revenue-neutral tax rate.
Under North Carolina law, all residents of a county, whether they live in unincorporated areas or municipalities, pay county property taxes. People who live in municipalities — towns, cities and villages — also pay property taxes for their respective communities.
County governments fund services such as the school systems, public health, social services, emergency management, the sheriff’s office and detention facilities.
Pitt County also has special taxes to fund emergency medical services and fire districts. Fiscal year 2024-25 will also see recreation added to the services the county provides.
Greenville funds services such as police and fire services, street repairs, recreation, stormwater management and trash pickup.
Greenville also provides support for neighborhood and business development and a bus system.
The Greenville City Council agenda materials includes a breakdown of the city’s proposed FY 2024-25 budget.
Staff is recommending an operating budget of $175.6 million. The general fund, which is mainly funded with property and sales taxes, comprises approximately 64 percent of the total, or $112.5 million.
Recommended funding for the proposed budget include $32.35 million for police, $21 million for fire-rescue, nearly $10 million for recreation and parks, $7.8 million for public works, $5.9 million for engineering, $4.6 million for information technology, $4 million for financial services, $3.8 million for human resources, nearly $3.5 million for the city manager’s office and $1.57 million for neighborhood and business services.
No information was provided on the proposed tax rate and revenue-neutral tax rate.
The City Council budget is scheduled to be presented at the end of its meeting in the City Council chambers, 200 W. Fifth St. The City Council does not hold public budget workshops.
At the council’s 6 p.m. Thursday meeting, representatives from Greenville Utilities Commission, Sheppard Memorial Library and Pitt-Greenville Convention & Visitors Authority will present their respective budget proposals, which are approved as part of the city’s overall budget.
The City Council will hold its public hearing on the fiscal year 2024-25 budget on June 10 and is scheduled to adopt it on June 13.
No details were available in the Board of Commissioners agenda materials. The Board of Commissioners will receive its budget presentation at the start of its meeting, which is being held in the Eugene James Auditorium, Pitt County Office Building, 1717 W. Fifth St.
Following its Monday presentation, the Pitt County Board of Commissioners will hold three days of budget workshops beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The following departments will present details about their budget requests:
Tuesday
Social servicesPublic healthInspectionsPlanning
Wednesday
Pitt County SchoolsPitt Community College
Thursday
Pitt County Sheriff’s Office and Detention CenterEmergency management
The Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the budget on at 6 p.m. June 4. After the hearing, the commissioners have the option of approving the budget as presented that night or at a later time, or making adjustments to the budget and adopting it at a later meeting.
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