Agenda - 10-06-2009 - Information

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45 Board of County Commissioners the citizens placed their trust in them to lead them into the future for good or bad, but no one saw the economic downturn. He sees this across the board and people are upset about the recent revaluation. He is a State Certified Residential Appraiser and he has seen property values double, triple, and more. He said that he does not see any basis for this and it is not a coincidence that so many people are showing up for these meetings. This has never happened in past revaluations. He looks at this as an opportunity for the County Commissioners as the leaders to stand up and make a tough decision and to rescind this revaluation. He said that other counties have rescinded their revaluations since January 1St -Rockingham County, Stanley County, and Caldwell County. He submitted a letter from an attorney in Eden, who has served on the North Carolina Attorney General's Office. He read several sentences from the letter, which is incorporated by reference. "I understand that the Orange County Commissioners have been told that they cannot legally stop the revaluation at this time. I believe that this information is absolutely incorrect. There is a statute that clearly states that a revaluation shall be conducted at least every eight years. As long as the eight- year limitation is observed, County Commissioners are given freedom to set a different and lesser period which you all have done in Orange County. There is absolutely no statutory provision that you cannot change the period as long as the reassessment is done within eight years. If the legislature had wanted to provide that once making a decision to shorten the revaluation period a county board cannot change its mind such a provision could and would certainly have been placed in the statute. The fact that it was not placed within the statute clearly indicates that the legislature had no such intent. Certainly, it would be absurd for a legislature to take the position that you have no authority to rescind this revaluation if you believe that such should be done." He said that if there is such a statutory limitation on the rights to rescind the revaluation, he would like to know where that is. He also submitted an article about Rockingham County unanimously rescinding its revaluation. Commissioner Nelson arrived of 7:21 PM. Clem Self spoke about the increase in property value in the area of North Graham Street. She said that the homes in these communities are more than 50 years old and the income bases do not match the property values bestowed upon the homes. She said that if the revaluations continue, they will be in "taxclosure" versus foreclosure. She said that people moved into these communities because they could afford it. She said that the citizens feel that the County is allowing people from other states to move into the communities and dictate what the property values should be because they find it cheaper to live here. She asked the County Commissioners to be considerate of the citizens that have lived here all of their lives. Mike Strayhorn said that his family came to Orange County in the 1740's. He said that this revaluation is the most absurd revaluation he has ever seen and he is a real estate practitioner. He said that his clients are concerned about how the revaluation is handled. He said that Orange County's Tax Assessor started announcing early on that citizens were going to be concerned about their taxes. Most of the property value in Orange County went up 22%. He said that his home in Hillsborough went up 52% in four years and something needs to be done. He said that every homeowner that feels they have been wronged by these incorrect analyses needs to be heard. Robert Hollister said that his property value went up 91 % and he considers this to be unfair. He asked the County Commissioners to do something about this. Cynthia Shriner is also a real estate practitioner. She said that she has also reviewed the statutes and she respectfully disagrees with the County Attorney that the County Commissioners can rescind the revaluations. She elaborated on this.