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GREENSBORO — Let the money flow.

Guilford County established Thursday a new economic incentives plan that allows small businesses to apply for county funds when making property value improvements worth at least $10,000.

Commissioners voted 8-3 to pass the measure, linked to $1.3 million in the 2009-10 budget. Commissioners Paul Gibson, Kirk Perkins and Billy Yow voted against the policy.

“Implementing this policy will take $1 to $3 million dollars each year, and basically take it off the tax rolls,” Perkins said.

For those who qualify, the plan will pay back the difference in the tax bill after the property value increase for three years.

“I’m very pleased,” said Steve Arnold, Board of Commissioners vice chairman. “We’ve been working on this some time.”

Mention of the plan first began in the spring when it was known that $1.3 million in tax money would be set aside in the budget.

The moved cause some outcry among commissioners who thought the money could be better put elsewhere at a time when county workers were getting laid off and school maintenance funds were being cut.

When Arnold revealed his plan publicly, questions rose about the potential for it to hold up in court.

After nine revisions, the incentives plan still has no minimum job-creation requirement, but it does require an application, which Arnold said would be available to businesses at county planning offices.

Through those revisions, there were still lingering questions as to whether the policy would hold up to a challenge in court.

“I’m not trying to practice law in North Carolina,” said Gibson, who is not an attorney, “but I can’t see that it rises to the public good.”

State law requires that taxpayer money is used for programs that benefit the public. Arnold and others argue that increasing the tax base increases tax revenue and benefits the public.

“Chances are strong that someone will add jobs as a result of this,” Arnold said.

Some commissioners and others have questioned whether it is preferential treatment for a small group of taxpayers.

Ernie Pearson, an attorney representing the county, said he thinks the plan will hold up “as we know right now under the case law.”

The commissioners also gave the go-ahead to begin building the county’s new 1,000-bed jail.

The overall project, which includes building the downtown Greensboro jail, will cost no more than $84.9 million, a price guaranteed by the lead contractor, Balfour Beatty Construction.

Tony Stoneking, a manager from Balfour Beatty working on the jail’s construction, said the price is lower than expected. He credited the slow economy for finding low bids for subcontractors.

The cost was expected to be $94.5 million.

Stoneking and others have said they expect to break ground in November.

In 2008, Guilford County voters passed a $115 million bond referendum to build a jail to ease the load on the county’s current crowded facility.

While there are some savings, the remainder of the bond money would help to furnish the jail.

Local workers can learn about getting a job on the project at a job fair running from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 10 at Hairston Middle School.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com