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3 <br /> 12UNCSCHOOLOF <br /> � GOVERNMENT WMEW <br /> 08111119A <br /> FEBRUARY 2023 <br /> Orange County Property Tax Appeals: <br /> A Systemic Bias Analysis <br /> Christopher B.McLaughlin <br /> Orange County contracted with the School of Government at the University of North Carolina <br /> at Chapel Hill(the School) to study recent property tax appeal data for evidence of systemic bias <br /> (the Study). <br /> To conduct the Study,the School analyzed residential property tax appeal data from Orange <br /> County's 2021 countywide reappraisal along with related demographic data from the United <br /> States Census Bureau (the Census) to determine if appeal rates or appeal results varied based on <br /> two independent variables: a neighborhood's White population percentage and a neighborhood's <br /> property values.Stated differently,the Study sought to determine whether residential property <br /> owners in more White or more expensive neighborhoods were more likely to appeal their <br /> property tax appraisals and/or more likely to obtain better appeal results than owners from less <br /> White or less expensive neighborhoods.' <br /> The data included both informal appeals, meaning properties for which taxpayers contacted <br /> the tax office seeking an initial review of their appraisal values,and formal appeals, meaning <br /> properties for which appraisal appeals were heard by the county board of equalization <br /> and review. <br /> Summary of Results <br /> The Study identified a generally higher rate of appeals in more expensive neighborhoods.In other <br /> words,taxpayers from neighborhoods with higher median property values generally pursued <br /> appeals,both informal and formal, more often than did taxpayers from neighborhoods with <br /> lower median property values. <br /> 1.As used in the Study,the term"neighborhood"refers to"tracts"as defined by the Census.The 39,027 <br /> residential parcels included in the Study were distributed throughout forty of the forty-two Orange <br /> County tracts created by the 2020 Census.See Methodology for more details.For a map of these tracts, <br /> see U.S.Census Bureau,2020 Census—Census Tract Reference Map.Orange County,NC,January 2021, <br /> 36.03 x 42.00 in.,https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st37_nc/censustract_maps/c37135_ <br /> orange/D C20CT_C37135.pdf. <br /> 1 <br /> ©2023.School of Government.The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. <br />