Agenda 10-01-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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16 1 Commissioner Bedford said it seems to her that the law has tied the hands of the County 2 staff, and the equitable solution is to refund the monies, and the other property owners along 3 Lake Orange should be alerted to consider having a survey completed, so that going forward 4 taxes would be lower. She said this strikes her as the right and just thing to do. 5 Michael Burton said the owners around Lake Orange are routinely contacted by Lake 6 Orange, Inc. for the dues that they pay to cross that area of land, basically informing them that 7 Lake Orange still claims that land. 8 Commissioner Bedford said she understands that, but when she receives her tax bill, 9 she does not know anything about the contours, etc. 10 11 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Marcoplos to 12 approve the resolution denying the refund request based on consultation with the County 13 Attorney. 14 15 Commissioner Price said the wording in the proposed resolution is confusing. 16 Commissioner Dorosin said to amend the language to say the property tax refund is 17 denied. 18 Commissioner McKee accepted this amendment. 19 Commissioner Marcoplos agreed. 20 Commissioner Dorosin said he would vote against this resolution, and this is a matter of 21 equity and fairness. He said the County was unintentionally unjustly enriched. 22 Commissioner Price said she does see the argument of double taxation, but she also 23 understands this is prevalent throughout Orange County, and once surveys are done, property 24 lines are being corrected. She said it is unfortunate that some of these property lines and plats 25 were recorded without the advantage of modern technology and good surveys. 26 Commissioner Marcoplos said this is a tough call. He agrees with much of 27 Commissioner Dorosin's statements, but the County did not create these problems, and the 28 County should not be in the position of arbiter and money distributer every time a mistake is 29 made. 30 Chair Rich asked if these types of mistakes really are that prevalent. 31 Nancy Freeman said the revaluation process does correct any errors or issues with the 32 details of the home, but not with the land itself. She said the County is required to record a 33 survey and tax by it, and this can only be fixed by the landowner. 34 Bonnie Hammersley said the County would not know if this is a prevalent problem, and 35 this is an example of change in technology, and the County is getting better at looking at the 36 surveying as technology improves. She said her office and the tax administration office do not 37 challenge surveys, and during the revaluation process, staff is simply looking at value. She said 38 the County is not aware of a prevalence of these types of issues, but if staff is made aware of 39 such a situation, it will alert property owners. 40 Commissioner Price said many surveys were done years ago, when technology was not 41 as accurate. 42 43 VOTE: Ayes, 4 (Chair Rich, Commissioner McKee, Commissioner Marcoplos, and 44 Commissioner Price); Nays, 3 (Commissioner Bedford, Commissioner Greene, and 45 Commissioner Dorosin) 46 47 MOTION PASSES 48 49 Commissioner McKee asked if there is a reason why the parties themselves could not 50 handle this issue. 51 John Roberts said there is no reason, and is likely more appropriate.