Agenda - 06-07-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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37 1 he was part of the group that went to the Piney Grove neighborhood. He said they found a lot 2 people in Northern Orange County who never got the word about the program. He said they 3 were people who have low incomes and have trouble making ends meet. He said there were 4 people who could have used property tax relief, but didn't meet all of the criteria. He said he 5 appreciated that the proposal made positive changes towards that. He said what's really 6 needed is a more equitable system of sharing the tax burden. He said maybe people like him 7 should pay a bigger share to help those who don't have a lot. He said he hoped the goal would 8 be to have a more equitable system. 9 Kathy Atwater said she is a resident of the Northside community and works at the 10 Marian Cheek Jackson Center. She thanked the tax office for working with their center. She 11 said the calculations for the valuations are all wrong. She said her community is valued 80% 12 higher than a neighborhood two blocks away. She said houses that were built in 1930 or 1940, 13 compared to a house that was built in 2010, are taxed higher. She said they appreciate the 14 Longtime Homeowners Assistance Program, but one of the residents said "What about me 15 being behind on my taxes? You may help me with this current year, but taxes continue to draw 16 interest. I'm trying to catch up and I can't catch up because of the interest that's being taxed." 17 She asked the Board to look at this in a more systemic way, as a stepping stone. She said the 18 final solution is looking at the valuations. She encouraged the Board to take the issue to the 19 state. She said let's get something done, so all of Orange County can live in Orange County. 20 George Barrett said this is a "yes and" moment. He said we need all all the tools to 21 mitigate the injustice on black and brown communities. He said his story will be about 22 Northside, but will describe many black and brown communities. He said that in April 2021, 23 property tax revaluations arrived in the mail and for many black elders in Northside, Pine Knolls, 24 and Tin Top, opening these letters came with a shock. He said that on average, these residents 25 saw their valuations go up 53%. He said this was a much larger increase than nearby white 26 neighborhoods. He said some property tax bills more than doubled. He said the property tax 27 revaluation placed a heavier tax burden on Northside residents. He said in comparison, affluent 28 neighborhoods' property tax valuations largely remained the same. He said three 29 neighborhoods near Northside saw increases ranging from -1% to 13%. He said single family 30 homes in several Chapel Hill neighborhoods rose an average of 8% in comparison to single 31 family homes in Northside that rose five times that amount. He said residents responded with 32 creative resilience and saw major wins in property tax advocacy through a coalition of creative 33 advocacy with Empowerment, the Chapel Hill — Carrboro NAACP, and Justice United. He said 34 more than 650 community members joined neighbors to challenge Orange County's inequitable 35 valuations of Northside properties. He said the county responded giving more time for appeals 36 and reviewing the valuations, and creating the Longtime Homeowner Assistance Program. He 37 said going forward his community is committed to creating systemic change to valuations so 38 that this crisis does not happen again. He said it requires leadership to craft new and innovative 39 ways to create a more equitable process for how property is valuated and to enable long term 40 residents to thrive. 41 Delores Bailey said she is a resident of Northside and a homeowner. She said they 42 have lived on Graham St. for 47 years. She said her home is located in the heart of Northside, 43 and her home is attractive to investors and developers. She said the tax value of her property 44 has slowly risen. She said that in 2021, the community and its partners fought an extraordinary 45 tax increase. She said it incited the residents to start appealing taxes. She said the appeals 46 happened, but that did not fix the problems. She said she had an attorney help her complete an 47 appeals application. She said her tax value went from $93,000 to $233,000 after her appeal. 48 She said she appealed a second time. She said she received a letter reducing the value of her 49 home back to $93,000. She said she asked why her tax value went back down to $93,000 and 50 she was informed that there were two levels that had to be considered, and when they looked at 51 those two levels, it caused the value to come down. She said there is something wrong with the