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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No --n(.a <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: April 3, 1995 <br /> SUBJECT: Tax Refund Request - CH Hotel Associates, Ltd. <br /> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- <br /> DEPARTMENT Assessor PUBLIC HEARING YES NO x <br /> -------------------------------- ------------------------------- <br /> ATTACHMENT(S ) INFORMATION CONTACT <br /> County Attorney Opinion Kermit Lloyd, ext 2101 <br /> (under separate cover) TELEPHONE NUMBER <br /> Hillsborough 732-8181 <br /> Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br /> Mebane 227-2031 <br /> Durham 688-7331 <br /> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- <br /> PURPOSE: To consider a request from CH Hotel Associates, Ltd. for <br /> refund or release of portions of 1991 and 1992 property taxes . <br /> BACKGROUND: CH Hotel Associates owned a parcel of land of <br /> approximately 6 acres near the intersection of South Columbia Street <br /> and NC54 Bypass . Roughly 2 acres of this property was taken by the <br /> North Carolina Department of Transportation in late 1990 in connection <br /> with the Bypass road widening project. <br /> In February 1991 , Mr. G. Roland Gammon, Managing General Partner of CH <br /> Hotel Associates, notified the County that a portion of the property <br /> had been taken and requested that the valuation on the parcel be <br /> reduced. The February 1991 letter specifically listed the quantity of <br /> land taken by NCDOT in the road project. The County Assessor reduced <br /> the 1991 value of the parcel to $277 , 679 from its 1990 value of <br /> $334, 572 , based on the reduced size of the parcel . CH Hotel Associates <br /> has paid the 1991 taxes in full . In an October 1992 letter, CH Hotel <br /> Associates made the point that the resulting parcel was valued too <br /> high . In its view, NCDOT had taken the highest quality land in the <br /> parcel , and the utility and value of the remaining parcel was <br /> significantly diminished because of a ravine traversing it. The <br /> Assessor' s staff visited the site, agreed with the taxpayer' s position, <br /> and reduced the tax value to $101 , 288 , effective with the January 1993 <br /> revaluation. <br /> CH Hotel Associates has requested a refund of a portion of the 1991 <br /> taxes that have been paid and has also requested a release of a portion <br /> of 1992 taxes , which have not been paid (as of March 1, 1995 , 1992 <br /> delinquent taxes on the parcel in question stand at $5 , 534 . 35 , <br /> including interest) . CH Hotel Associates contends that the valuation <br /> for both 1991 and 1992 should reflect the much lower quality of the <br /> parcel as it existed on January 1 , 1991, following the NCDOT taking . <br /> It is the County Attorney' s opinion that the Board of Commissioners has <br /> statutory authority to release a portion of the 1992 taxes, but that <br /> because of the timing of the appeal regarding the resultant value, <br /> there is no statutorily permissible basis for the Board to grant the <br /> requested relief for 1991 . A summary of the current and proposed 1992 <br /> tax liabilities for CH Hotel Associates follows : <br />