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1 <br /> APPROVED 9/3/2002 <br /> MINUTES <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> WORK SESSION <br /> MARCH 18, 2002 <br /> The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a work session on Monday, March 18, 2002 <br /> at 7:30 p.m. in the Government Services Center in Hillsborough, North Carolina. <br /> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Margaret W. <br /> Brown, Moses Carey, Jr., Alice M. Gordon, and Stephen H. Halkiotis <br /> COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and S. Sean Borhanian <br /> COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod <br /> Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (all other staff members will be identified appropriately <br /> below) <br /> NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT <br /> AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING <br /> WILL BE KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. <br /> 1. PROPERTY TAX REFUND <br /> Peter and Vicki Childers, who own property at 8718 Morrow Mill Road, appeared at the June 25, <br /> 2001 meeting of the Orange County Board of Commissioners and requested that the Board release their <br /> property from taxation by Orange County so that it could be taxed by Alamance County. Vice-Chair <br /> Halkiotis and staff subsequently met with Mr. And Mrs. Childers to discuss the information they had <br /> gathered which showed that their property is actually physically located inside Alamance County and <br /> should be taxed accordingly. A copy of the Vice-Chair's report is incorporated herein by reference. <br /> North Carolina General Statute 105-381(b), "Action of Governing Body" provides that"upon receiving a <br /> taxpayer's written statement of defense and request for release or refund, the governing body of the <br /> taxing unit shall within 90 days after receipt of such a request determine whether the taxpayer has a valid <br /> defense to the tax imposed or any part thereof and shall either release or refund that portion of the <br /> amount that is determined to be in excess of the correct liability or notify the taxpayer in writing that no <br /> release or refund will be made". North Carolina law allows the Board to approve property tax refunds for <br /> the current and four previous fiscal years. <br /> As noted in one of the attachments to the Vice-Chair's report, the Childers' written request to the <br /> Orange County Commissioners is to be released to Alamance County and be refunded property taxes for <br /> tax year 2000. <br /> The County Manager recommended that the Board adopt a resolution to approve or deny the <br /> refund, depending on whether the Board determines that the property in question is located in Orange <br /> County or Alamance County. In either case, the Manager recommends that the Board direct staff to <br /> engage Alamance County officials in a collaborative effort with the North Carolina Geodetic Survey Office <br /> to resolve the Orange-Alamance boundary, as outlined in the background materials included with the <br /> Vice-Chair's January 15, 2002 report. <br /> Rod Visser said that in 1996, Orange County and Alamance County worked for a short while to <br /> try to resolve the boundary line but nothing was resolved. <br /> Chair Jacobs thanked Commissioner Halkiotis for all the work he did in resolving this dispute and <br /> also the staff for putting together all the information. <br /> Land Records Manager Roscoe Reeve showed on a map the Childers' property. On the left is <br /> his lot highlighted in red and the boundary that was transferred into the GIS system. He showed the <br /> traditional boundary on the Alamance County maps which was a hodgepodge of maps. Further east is <br />