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Lucian Mascarella said that this lavender sheet is different from what has happened <br /> since 1993. He said that his taxes have increased every year and to have .80 as a neutral tax <br /> rate is not going to happen. He said that the handout is very misleading and revaluation is not <br /> the only thing that determines a tax rate. He said that when this first came up, he disagreed <br /> with all of it and contacted all the County Commissioners and heard from three, especially <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz. <br /> Carl Merritt said that his taxes have been going up every year and he protests each <br /> time. He also has a house in Alamance County and the last revaluation went down, but his <br /> home in Orange County went up. <br /> Dave Laudicina said that the purple sheet is insulting and is not reality. He said that <br /> citizens are all scared that they are not going to be able to live in their homes. He said that <br /> since 2005, his taxes went up 20%. He said that the increases get compounded every year. <br /> He said this is a runaway train and the citizens are paying for services they do not get. He <br /> asked the County Commissioners to give them a break. <br /> P.H. Craig said that he has lived here since 1939 and is a real estate broker. He said <br /> that he wrote the editorial in the Herald Sun and if all of these people appeal, Orange County <br /> will have to go out and get real appraisals, which will be very expensive. He said that <br /> appraisers are so busy and all of the appraisals will jam the system. He said that the appraisal <br /> process is different now and the County only looks at statistics. He said that rescinding this <br /> will be the most economical way to deal with this. <br /> Way Long is a homeowner in Chapel Hill. He asked the County Commissioners to <br /> publish the revaluation schedule that was implemented. He said that many volunteers are <br /> willing to fight against this revaluation and they are organized. <br /> Ken Latta said that his family came here in 1760. He said that his daughter is now <br /> applying for college and he has been told that he will have to pay up to $51,000 per child. He <br /> said that this is about 60% of his salary and will eat up all the equity that Orange County says <br /> that he has in his house. <br /> Rory Roth said that he is a scientist and this week's Time magazine has a graph where <br /> the houses peak in 2007. He said that the assessment should go back to the year 2003, <br /> which would be a decrease of 10%. <br /> Rachel Clayton said that her son lives in Atlanta and got his tax statement and his <br /> taxes have been frozen and did not go up. She said that her home is going up $40,000 and <br /> some people will not be able to pay their taxes. <br /> Bertha Carr lives on US 70 and she offered her property up for sale. <br /> Laurie Wolf said that most people have lost half of what they have saved in the past <br /> few years. She said that the County Commissioners need to consider this and people need <br /> relief. <br /> Worth Johnson asked about the process that was used. He said that his wife inherited <br /> some land and it cannot be subdivided, but it went up 38% from the last revaluation. The <br /> adjoining properties only went up 5-12%. He asked how this could be justified. <br /> David McFarland said that he is not a pauper and his revaluation went up about <br /> 200,000 for his properties this year and he and his wife have to save $2,500 a month to pay <br /> taxes for his rental properties. He said that this is totally unfair, especially under these <br /> economic conditions. <br /> Dan Bennett said that he is living on an old family farm on Damascus Church Road and <br /> his parents' part of the farm went up over$115,000. He said that the County Commissioners <br /> are supposed to be stewards of the citizens and to take care of them. He does not know how <br /> his parents are going to pay for this. <br />