$3,119,854.94
I’ve noticed during this campaign season that everyone is discussing the problems we are facing as a city, but few are offering solutions. So here is one of my problems and my solution.
The increasing property taxes and fees in Fayetteville are a big concern to me. In 2023, City Council approved:
8% property tax increase (from 49.95 cents to 53.95 cents per $100)
17.8% increase in solid waste fees (from $225 to $265)
400% increase in vehicle fees (from $5 to $25)
As a realtor, I imagine I spend more time than the average person on the county tax webpage gathering needed data and information. On a recent search, I noticed a tab entitled “Delinquent Bill Search.” Being curious, I clicked on the tab. https://taxpwa.co.cumberland.nc.us/publicwebaccess/ This tab allows you to search delinquent property taxes in various ways, but I chose the “$10,000 – HIGHER” category. As of the writing of this (9/25/23) there are nine delinquent tax bills greater than $10,000 with the oldest one dating back to 2010. WHAT?!!
For full transparency:
these bills include taxes owed to the city and/or the county;
one of these properties is being foreclosed by the county;
one of these bills says it is owed by the City of Fayetteville???;
and one of these properties owes almost $48,000 in taxes and interest since 2017, and the county has not foreclosed the property for unpaid taxes.
I made a public records request for the delinquent property taxes owed to the City of Fayetteville. https://fayettevillenc.nextrequest.com/requests/23-1466 On August 31, 2023, the City of Fayetteville had $3,119,854.94 in delinquent property taxes and interest.
Think about the positive impact on our city if we were able to collect even 1/3 of this delinquent amount. How many police officers could be hired to fill the 80+ positions needed? How many programs could be funded that offer our youth options other than a life of crime? Could we reduce future tax increases if we collected the money already owed to us?
Here is my proposal to address this problem… Let's collect our own taxes and quit paying the county over $700,000 to collect our taxes for us. If this is not cost effective, the City could at least hire an outside contractor to collect the delinquent taxes based on a % collected fee. The City should pursue foreclosure on all unpaid taxes that are over two years old.
If the City decides any delinquent accounts are “noncollectable”, then they need to remove these accounts and write them off as bad debt, so we have accurate accounting. If we do have to write these accounts off, we need to ask if the reason is because the City waited too long to collect.
Let’s get real, Fayetteville! Does this matter to you? It matters to me! Our city council should not further burden those of us who pay our taxes with more taxes before making full efforts to collect the delinquent taxes.
I ask for your vote on October 10th. I am ready to work hard for you and OUR city.
Thank you for your support,
Lynne
#Greeneforcitycouncil #greenelightfayetteville #collectalltaxes #timeforchange
