Guilford County budget town halls start as Greensboro taxpayers weigh revaluation, services, and spending priorities
Greensboro NC – Guilford County’s April 14 budget town hall gives residents a chance to weigh spending priorities while property reappraisal appeals stay open through May 15.
Guilford County begins its 2026 budget town hall series on Tuesday, April 7, and Greensboro residents get their turn one week later, on Tuesday, April 14, at Barber Park Event Center. The timing matters. County leaders are asking for public feedback on spending and services at the same time many property owners are still sorting through new reappraisal notices and deciding whether to appeal.
For Greensboro, the session is scheduled at Barber Park Event Center, 1500 Barber Park Drive. The livability forum starts at 5:30 p.m., followed by the budget town hall at 6:15 p.m. Guilford County says the meetings are meant to give residents a look at county programs and services, explain the budget process and current economic conditions, and gather input on priorities for the fiscal year 2026-27 budget and the county’s proposed strategic plan.
What residents can influence at the meeting
This is a feedback session, not the vote that adopts the county budget or sets a tax rate. Still, it is one of the clearest chances for Greensboro residents, business owners, workers, and parents to tell county officials what feels most urgent before the budget is finalized.
According to Guilford County, the meetings are also tied to its proposed strategic plan, called Advancing Our Livability. County staff say they want feedback on services, funding priorities, economic pressures affecting the budget, and long-term goals for how the county allocates resources.
That matters because county budget choices reach well beyond courthouse operations. Guilford County’s recent budget documents show county spending touches school support, emergency services, the Sheriff’s Office, public health, social services, libraries, homelessness response, and other day-to-day programs that shape neighborhood quality of life. Even when Greensboro sets its own city budget separately, county decisions still affect services many city residents use.
Why reappraisal is part of the conversation
The other reason these meetings may draw attention is the 2026 property reappraisal. Guilford County says a reappraisal updates all real property to current market value using sales data, market trends, property characteristics, and neighborhood conditions. The county says the North Carolina Department of Revenue required the 2026 reappraisal after finding that most properties in Guilford County were selling for more than their assessed values.
That helps explain why the issue has become so charged locally. WFDD and BPR reported in March that Greensboro residents were already raising concerns about what higher assessments could mean for homeowners and renters. But a higher assessment does not automatically mean a specific tax-bill increase. Tax rates are separate decisions made later by local governments, and Greensboro’s city tax rate is not the same thing as Guilford County’s county rate.
What to do if you think your value is wrong
If a property owner believes the new assessed value is off, the town hall is not the place to fix it. Guilford County says valuation disputes must go through the county appeal process.
The county’s Tax Department says residential notices were mailed in mid-February and commercial notices in mid-March, with the online appeal portal opening at that time. The deadline to appeal is 5 p.m. on May 15, 2026. Property owners can review their county property details, compare sales information, verify parcel data, and file an appeal through the county’s reappraisal tools.
For Greensboro residents, the practical takeaway is simple: use the April 14 meeting to press county leaders on services, priorities, and accountability, and use the county appeal process if the assessed value itself looks wrong. The next big steps will come later, when Guilford County moves from public input to budget drafting and then to actual tax-rate and spending decisions.
