Agenda 08-26-2025; 8-a - Minutes

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2 1 community experts rather than hire a consultant. He thanked the Board for their time and their 2 consideration of the requests. 3 Lillie Brown said she owns two properties on Rogers Road and her new tax assessment 4 is up $80,300 on one and up $118,800 on the other. She said she wants to know why the values 5 have gone up so much. She said she appealed but it was denied. 6 Heather (last name not given) said her grandmother lives on Oak Hill Road in Chapel Hill 7 and was displaced because she could not pay the taxes on her home. She said her mom's 8 taxes doubled and she lives in a modular home. She said it does not make sense. She said 9 that her aunt is working class and indigenous and that her grandmother is 90 years old and that 10 they should not be dealing with this. 11 Beverly Walton said in her community there are two houses that sold for $250,000 that 12 were gutted and remodeled, while her house has not had anything done to it since it was built in 13 1977. She said her house is therefore not comparable to the other two houses and should not 14 be valued the same. 15 Regina Merritt said she is a member of Councilville and has lived there all her life. She 16 said her mom is 88 years old and her taxes have gone up and social security will not cover it. 17 She said she would love to know how the values are being set. She asked if anyone had been 18 to Councilville like she requested. She said it seems a lot of people do not understand what is 19 going on in Orange County. She said she looked at differences between white community taxes 20 and black community taxes and she said she does not understand if they are trying to be run 21 out of their property. She said her property was given to her by her grandparents. She said all of 22 Chapel Hill has been gentrified. She said something needs to be done because this is 23 heartbreaking. She said they are owed answers on how they are coming up with the numbers. 24 Elizabeth Young said she is a volunteer at RENA. She said she first met Ms. Brown in 25 2022 and that is what sparked her interest in the property valuations. She said that in 2020, her 26 lot was only $400 in taxes. She said in 2021, it doubled to $800. She said that since that, it will 27 be $1800 now. She said it is an empty lot with a mobile home. She said Ms. Brown's case 28 shows that a quadruple increase since 2020. 29 William Gattis said he has tried to hold onto family property in Carrboro. He said one 30 house he has required him to take a loan out just to pay the taxes on it. He said he has a two 31 bedroom that is 760 square feet with a tax value of $425,000 in 2025. He said that he is on a 32 fixed income and is 79 years old. He said there is a house within 600 feet of his house, and it 33 has a tax value of $403,000 and it is 6 bedrooms, 2k square feet, and is a rental property. He 34 said he is trying to understand how this can be. He said he asked about tax relief but was told 35 that he and his wife's annual income of about $50,000 puts them over the income limit. 36 Betty Gear said she is 81 years old, and she has lived in Chapel Hill her whole life, and 37 so were her parents. She said it is not right for the taxes to have increased this much. She said 38 she does not want to be run out of her town. 39 Commissioner Greene asked if the coalition could go to the BOER. 40 John Roberts said only individual property owners can appeal to the BOER, the coalition 41 can attend as support, but cannot appeal on behalf of property owners. 42 43 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 44 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 45 46 3. Announcements, Petitions, and Comments by Board Members 47 Commissioner McKee had no comments. 48 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she was heartbroken over the assassination and 49 attempted assassinations of lawmakers in Minnesota. She said that violence has no place in 50 democracy — anywhere. She said when they disagree, they should turn to conversations, 51 compassion, and the ballot box rather than fear or force. She said that the strength of our