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3 <br /> Garden opening and dedication. She said a large portion of the food grown at the garden is <br /> dedicated to local individuals who are experiencing food insecurity. <br /> Commissioner Hamilton said she attended the Alliance Health board meeting. She said <br /> Alliance is the local management entity for managing state dollars to provide mental health <br /> services for individuals on Medicaid and some uninsured individuals. She said the School Safety <br /> Task Force met on April 13th and Karen Fairley, the director of the Center for Safer Schools, gave <br /> an overview of school safety initiatives for the NC Department of Public Instruction. She said the <br /> Capital Needs Work Group would meet the following morning. <br /> Commissioner Fowler said on April 12th the county held the biannual Intergovernmental <br /> Parks Work Group meeting. She said each entity discussed the events they plan to hold in honor <br /> of the Year of the Trail. She said people should visit each entity's website to learn more about <br /> the events. She said that Orange County's website has an interactive trail map. She said that <br /> April 201h is the VIP ribbon cutting for the Panther Branch Natural Area, which is managed by the <br /> Eno River Association. She said they received updates from the various entities, including <br /> discussion of Chapel Hill's new AstroTurf. She said that Chapel Hill also changed to LEDs, which <br /> was funded by a county climate action grant. She said the next meeting will be in October. She <br /> said April is autism awareness month, and she attended a movie and discussion hosted by the <br /> Chapel Hill Public Library, B3, and the Autism Society of North Carolina — Orange/Chatham <br /> Support Group. She said the movie was called Deej, and was about a non-verbal young man <br /> who attended college and there was a panel discussion afterwards. She encouraged everyone <br /> to look out for similar opportunities to learn more about autism. She said earlier in the day she <br /> attended the ABC board meeting and it appears that the ABC board will allocate 10% more in <br /> funds to the county. <br /> Chair Bedford said there will be a poetry slam at the Eno Arts Mill on April 19th at 7 p.m. <br /> 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations <br /> a. Property Tax Appeals Bias Study Presentation from UNC School of Government <br /> The Board received a presentation on the results of the Orange County Property Tax Appeals <br /> Bias Study. <br /> BACKGROUND: The Tax Administration Office wanted to identify and mitigate potential systemic <br /> bias in its property tax appeal process. <br /> The primary goal was to determine whether residential property tax appeals are less prevalent <br /> and less successful for properties located in majority-minority and low-income neighborhoods as <br /> compared to properties located in white and median-and-above-income neighborhoods. The <br /> study also considered if residential property tax appeals are less prevalent and less successful <br /> for lower value properties as compared to higher value properties. <br /> Christopher B. McLaughlin, Professor of Public Law and Government with the School of <br /> Government at the University of North Carolina, conducted the study. Professor McLaughlin has <br /> conducted similar studies in other North Carolina counties and will present Orange County's data <br /> alongside the data from other counties as part of the presentation. <br /> Professor McLaughlin has worked with the School of Government since 2008. Mr. McLaughlin <br /> works in the area of local government tax and finance, along with ethics for government attorneys. <br /> He has written books on property tax collections, tax foreclosures, and occupancy taxes, and has <br /> published over 200 blog posts, including subjects such as local taxes and legal ethics. <br /> Nancy Freeman introduced the item and the speaker, Chris McLaughlin. <br />