Josh, thanks for the great initial analysis and continued follow-up. I have pasted a table with some of the key metrics you highlighted in in your analysis, with the addition of data from the 2017 and 2018 CAFR reports.
Couple of my personal observations from reading through the 2017 and 2018 reports:
1. Gaston technology park is now planning to expand.
2. FUSE is still the center piece of Gastonia for the future.
3. Per capita income has not recovered to the pre-recession levels, however, it continues to steadily increase.
4. Owens Corning is now in the #2 spot, and very close to Daimler for the top property tax payers. Combined Daimler and Corning make up 3.6% of the cities taxable assessed value.
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
| population (2010 census 71,741) |
72947 |
73698 |
75536 |
75919 |
| gastonia unemployment rate |
6.70% |
5.50% |
4.40% |
4.50% |
| ad valorum taxes |
$29,294,143 |
$29,055,453 |
$30,120,248 |
$31,108,141 |
| general governance expenditures |
$7,652,922 |
$8,432,653 |
$8,611,305 |
$8,769,056 |
| public saftey expenditures |
$26,258,338 |
$27,929,197 |
$29,290,869 |
$30,058,429 |
| Public Works expenditures |
$5,449,447 |
$5,497,190 |
$5,828,965 |
$5,667,571 |
| Cultural and recreation expenditures |
$5,382,186 |
$5,467,201 |
$5,545,275 |
$5,947,833 |
| Economic Development |
$95,379 |
$379,185 |
$336,563 |
$406,586 |
| property tax values |
$29,097,588 |
$28,876,336 |
$29,966,989 |
$30,959,917 |
I would also refer those interested to the bureau of labor statistics, which has a wealth of data on the labor market. The site has data for the Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia metropolitan area. I have pasted a couple of charts I found that indicate strong growth for the last decade.
My conclusion is that if you were able to get into the Gastonia market in 2017, the economics of the area today should give you confidence that Gastonia is a stable market that continues to see growth.
