Agenda - 09-06-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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23 1 being done. He said that if you look underneath the houses it is rotting, and no one ever came 2 to look at what shape it is in. 3 Paul Caldwell said he is a 50-year resident of Northside area and lives on Church Street. 4 He said that Northside used to be a predominantly black neighborhood. He said that there are 5 only five Black families that live on Church Street now and that is due to the fact that they have 6 sold out to real estate developers to build duplexes and apartments. He said that it is pretty 7 much all rental properties for students. He said they can afford those rents as students, and he 8 has no problem with them but would like help for longtime residents. He said that he has been 9 asked numerous times to sell but he wants to leave his properties to his children. He said he 10 has pride in being a resident of Northside and wants to stay as long as he can. He said that he 11 doesn't want to complain, but the students litter his yard, and he has to clean it up. 12 Laine Staton said she is with Habitat for Humanity. She shared two stories that make 13 sense of the numbers. She said that she got a call from someone that said her neighbor had 14 sold her house for $225,000 and had originally paid $60,000. She said that initially, this made 15 her happy because the seller was able to build wealth through homeownership. However, the 16 home was sold to a developer who then turned around and sold it for $500,000. She said this 17 made her heart race when she heard it because she knew that it was going to have a major 18 impact on the tax assessment for her Habitat homes and all of the people in the community. 19 She said the second story is regarding delinquencies. She said that in the first six month of her 20 being there, she met with people that are significantly behind on mortgages. She went on to 21 explain that one of the people that she met with was a master gardener and worked in 22 maintenance at UNC, and that she was simply an incredible woman. She said that she had 23 bought her home 15 years ago. She said that the woman was injured on the job and unable to 24 run the buffing machine anymore. She said that the injury led to the woman leaving work and 25 taking her Social Security. She said that she is now on a fixed income and only brings in $1,300 26 a month. She said that once the in the tax amount took effect, her 30% of her monthly income 27 only covers a small portion of her mortgage. She asked the Board how she is supposed to help 28 this woman. She said there was an option of extending the loan, but the woman would be 92 29 years old before it was paid off. She said this woman has loved and contributed to this 30 community and asked the Board to please help her with the tax burden. 31 32 Chair Price said that the suggestion from the County Manager was to come back on 33 June 7t" for further discussion. 34 Commissioner Greene said she was encouraged by what she heard during the meeting. 35 She said she appreciated staff's efforts to show what 100% looks like because it shows the 36 great burden that is out there. She said she understands that the amount of money they put 37 aside is within their control. She said that there is almost $200,000 left and maybe next year 38 could go forward with an equal amount, perhaps more, because that is under the Board's 39 control. She said there is a lot going on, so she is glad to have more time to consider the 40 materials. She said that at the next meeting there should be a policy discussion to decide 41 whether they allocate the funds on a sliding scale of need or they divide it up so that everyone 42 gets some. She said that she can agree that the problem is the tax burden. She said that the 43 reason for a 2% and a 3% number in the packet is because the 2% is the operative number, the 44 county amount of the tax, not the whole tax bill. She said that she wants to see that idea 45 developed in a proposal back to them. She said that she would be happy if it models the 46 Jackson Center's approach. She said that she fully understands that it is a systemic problem. 47 She said that it is not a surprise that they are not the only community dealing with it. She said 48 that they can start working on the systemic issues in the community. She said that about a year 49 ago, President Biden worked with HUD to setup a taskforce on property and valuation inequities 50 and the county can learn from what they are doing. She said the National Fair Housing Alliance