FY 25-26 Final Adopted Budget

General Fund Revenue Highlights

Revenues: Listed below is a summary chart of the major General Fund revenue estimates.

General Fund Revenue by Major Type

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Property Tax Property tax represents almost 58% of revenues. The FY 25-26 General Fund budget is balanced with a 62.75 cent property tax rate. This rate is the same as the rate for the adopted FY 24-25 budget. Property tax revenues are budgeted to increase $7 million or 2.8%, to $252.6 million. Tax base growth is projected at nearly 2% from FY 24 25 based on updated property values from the Guilford County Tax Department. The second year projected General Fund budget is balanced with the same tax rate as the recommended rate in FY 25-26. Sales Tax Sales tax revenue is 20% of General Fund revenues. The last quarter of FY 24-25 sales taxes receipts indicate slower growth than previous years. This trend is occurring statewide and is projected to continue in FY 25-26. Sales tax revenue is projected to increase by $1.2 million or 1.3% compared to the current year amended budget. Due to the impact of sales tax distribution based on the overall Guilford County tax levy, receipts for FY 25-26 are expected to decrease by approximately $700,000. This occurs when jurisdictions in the county adjust their tax rate compared to others. For FY 25-26, sales tax receipts are projected to increase 3% above revised estimates for the current year. Intergovernmental Revenues Intergovernmental revenues include those revenues that are collected by the State of North Carolina and returned to local governments, such as the Beer and Wine Tax, Utility Sales Tax, various cable and satellite service sales taxes (now shared with local governments through the Video Service Competition Act), and portions of the state tax on gasoline. The revenue category also includes contributions from Guilford County to support the City’s Library System. Intergovernmental revenues are budgeted at approximately $37.7 million, about $4.1 million, or 12.2%, more than the previous year budget of $33.6 million. Electric Utility and Piped Natural Gas sales tax revenues are budgeted at $26.0 million, $5.3 million higher than FY 24-25. The increase is based on current year usage and rate increases for Electric Utility. Other state shared revenues such as telecommunications are expected to remain largely flat overall. Shared revenues from beer, wine, and the City’s share of the local ABC distribution of sales taxes is projected to decrease by $1.2 million, or 40%. Information provided by the local ABC Board indicates the reduced distribution is necessary due to ABC Board capital plans and State required fund balance. User Fees, Charges and Licenses Charges for programming and services provided by General Fund departments, such as Parks and Recreation, Solid Waste and Recycling, and Engineering and Inspections are included in this category. The FY 25-26 budget of $27.3 million is approximately $1.9, or 7.5% more than the previous year budget. The solid waste availability fee increases approximately $1.8 million to achieve a higher overall cost recovery of services provided.

Adopted FY 25-26 Budget