Agenda 06-03-2025; 8-a - Minutes

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11 1 when people are scared about things like Social Security, social services, and the broader 2 unknowns. She said she is hoping for a pause on this revaluation because of the economic 3 climate. She said it is very possible that the values may decrease drastically in the next year 4 because there will be more homes on the market and people will not be able to afford them. 5 Virginia Whetten said she appreciates what taxes do for communities. She said she is 93 6 years old and is on a fixed income. She said she is afraid that her home that she and her late 7 husband owned will become unaffordable for her as a result of the revaluation. 8 Maureen Hayes said the value of her home increased drastically in 2017 and resulted in 9 $1000 more a month. She said she is concerned now that her property value has gone up another 10 50%, she is going to be priced out. She asked the Board to do something to help. 11 Sandra Theard said her family has been in Orange County since the 1800s. She said her 12 family's land tripled in value and has never had anything on it. She said she is also a senior but 13 has a legacy here and would like to be able to pass that land onto her son and other family 14 members. She said she does not want to be priced out or forced to move because her taxes cost 15 too much. She asked the Board to reconsider the values of her property. 16 Suzanne Allen said the method of taxation is punitive to long-term residents. She said she 17 has lived in her house for 40 years. She said her neighborhood was annexed by Carrboro years 18 ago and her taxes already doubled at that time. She said she would like the method used to 19 evaluate values be reconsidered. 20 Clara Felaski said she lives in Carrboro and is retired and lives on a fixed income. She 21 said that her assessment went up 40%. She said that she still has a mortgage, and any increase 22 is a financial burden. She said that she submitted an appeal because the comparisons were not 23 actually comparable to her house. She said she looked at comps and many sold for considerably 24 less than what her house is currently assessed. She said the housing market since this process 25 began has already gone down. 26 Cliff Simpson said he is against ax revaluation. He said the new values are arbitrary and 27 do not take into account the needs of homeowners. He said it does not take into consideration 28 the burden it places on homeowners, and he said property owners cannot absorb any more tax 29 increases here. 30 Cynthia Anderson said she has lived in North Carolina her whole life and now lives in 31 Carrboro. She said homeowners are being pushed to their limits. She said people who have 32 worked their whole lives, invested in and provided for their community are being pushed out 33 because other people want to live here. She said she hopes the Board will realize that this is not 34 sustainable for members of the community. 35 Terri Buckner said she has always supported the government's role in promoting the public 36 good and providing services not covered by the private sector. She said she has never questioned 37 her taxes until this year. She said she knows the Board cannot postpone the revaluation and that 38 they cannot set up a tiered tax system, so the only thing they can do is be careful about what is 39 approved going forward. She asked them to carefully consider what they choose to fund over the 40 revenue neutral rate. 41 Isabel Gagmon said she agrees with others that she will not be able to afford her home at 42 its new value. She said the real value of her house, not driven by the market, has not changed. 43 She suggested the Board should not use the market value because that only benefits people with 44 money, investors, etc. 45 James Thomas said he built a house for$105,000 and it was paid for in twelve years and 46 he paid for it by working weekends and nights. He said he saw the recent assessment and could 47 not believe that his concrete slab, one bedroom, two bath house was appraised at $430,000. He 48 said he understands that this is a growing area and that taxes need to go up some, but he is 49 asking that the assessment values be given a good look. 50 Gerald Scarlett said he went to several tax meetings and the staff did an excellent job. He 51 said that he has also went into the tax office and his questions were answered completely and he