Every eight years, North Carolina requires all counties to revaluate properties. This establishes a fair market value for all homes in the state.
Orange County will conduct property revaluations for the first time since 2009 beginning in January. The Orange County Board of Commissioners held a meeting on September 6, and discussed the plan for the reappraisals.
Tonight, the Board will hold a public hearing to discuss the property revaluations in more depth.
Dwane Brinson is the director of the Orange County Tax Office. He said the primary goal of any revaluation is to equalize the tax base.
“We have properties that are appreciating or depreciating at different rates throughout the county,” he said. “And the goal is just to bring things up or down to the current market value as of that single appraisal date.”
Brinson said after all revaluations are turned in, notices of new value will most likely be mailed out in late February. The deadline for informal appeals is April 28, 2017. This is about a month later than usual.
“We feel like that’s the best process to make sure that the data is accurate,” he said. “Make sure they understand where we have come from, and hear what they have to say too.”
Brinson said the main goal of the process is to involve the community in each step of the way.
“People know their properties better than we do in most situations,” he said.
The public hearing will be tonight at 7:00 at the Southern Human Services Center on Homestead Road.
http://chapelboro.com/news/local-government/orange-county-board-of-commissioners-to-hold-public-hearing-about-property-revaluationsCHAPEL HILL-Orange County Commissioners signaled on Thursday that they will hold the line on property taxes, though the CHCCS special district tax will go up.
The board won’t formally adopt the $187 million dollar budget until next week, but commissioners made it clear they want to keep the countywide property tax rate unchanged while still spending more money on public schools.
Looking ahead, some said that won’t be sustainable in the future.
“We have to keep in mind that this might be the last year that we’re going to go without raising taxes,” said Commissioner Penny Rich. “I’m not the kind of person who loves to raise taxes, but there’s a certain level of services that we expect in Orange County, and we can’t go year after year, especially with the school systems, and not raise taxes.”
The ad valorem tax rate will stay at 85.8 cents per $100 of assessed value for the fifth year in a row.
Last month, parents, teachers and administrators from both the Orange County and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools districts came out in droves to beg the board for more money to cover anticipated cuts at the state level.
In response, county commissioners dug into reserve funds to find $1.6 million in extra school funding, raising the per pupil allocation by $81 dollars for both school districts and generating approximately $1.6 million for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and $650,000 for Orange County Schools.
But that money is still not enough to open Chapel Hill’s new Northside Elementary. Commissioners agreed to raise the Chapel Hill-Carrboro special district tax by two cents to generate approximately $2 million for the new school. The new rate will be 20.84 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Commissioners also allocated $49,000 in additional funding for a host of nonprofit organizations, and set aside a quarter of a million for something they dubbed the Social Justice Fund, a reserve account to help lessen the sting of state cuts to social programs.
“In a way it’s a commitment that this is something we consider important,” said Board Chair Barry Jacobs. “I think we all agree there are depredations being done to the social safety net. We want to try to address them and we know can’t address them all.”
The board will vote to formally adopt the budget for Fiscal Year 2013-2014 at a meeting on Tuesday, June 18.
http://chapelboro.com/news/local-government/two-cent-chccs-district-tax-hike-while-oc-prop-tax-remains-steadyCHAPEL HILL- Earlier this week, Town Manager Roger Stancil announced that Orange County’s funding for the Chapel Hill Public Library would be going up enough to add at least two more hours worth of staffing to the proposed library budget.
On Wednesday the Chapel Hill Town Council heard of another windfall: $80,000 in vehicle tax revenues above what had been projected. A majority of council members signaled they’d like to see that extra money go to the library.
“We’ve been working on this budget since September,” said Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt. “There’s one issue and there’s $80,000 dollars. I’d say they match up.”
The additional funding would keep the library open approximately 64 hours a week, just four shy of the level it operated at before the facility doubled in size.
The council reviewed possible options for closing the $101,000 gap needed to restore the library to its full schedule, including trimming the employee pay raise, deleting a new position, scaling back park and greenway improvements or shifting money from other priorities. In the end they decided those budget cuts came at too dear a price.
“None of these options feel really appealing to me because I don’t feel they’re very sustainable,” said Lee Storrow.
New Library Director Susan Brown said her first priority is to restore weekend hours. She said any change in the library’s schedule would likely begin in the fall.
This was the council’s last budget work session before voting on the 2013-2014 fiscal plan. The recommended budget includes a two-cent property tax rate increase, half of which is targeted at transit, the other half will largely go to the library. The council will formally approve the budget on Monday.
http://chapelboro.com/news/local-government/town-council-finds-more-money-for-the-chapel-hill-library
Who's Talking with DG Martin 72.7°F |
| Today: 75°F / 63°F |  |
| Tomorrow | Tuesday | Wednesday |
|  |  |
| 77° / 67° | 75° / 60° | 78° / 59° |
