|
Minutes of the Board County Commissioners `
<br />Februa 11 1965
<br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Thursday, February 11,
<br />1965, at 7:30 o'clock P.M., in the Commissioners Room at the Courthouse in Hillsboro, N. C.
<br />Members present: Chairman Harvey D. Bennett, Commissioners Gordon B. Cleveland, William C.
<br />Hay, Henry S. Walker, and Carl Smith.
<br />Members absent: None
<br />The purpose of this meeting was to give each tax levying authority in the County an opportunity
<br />to plead its case for any assessment ratio it desires the County to use, and also for the Board to
<br />set the assessment ratio.
<br />The governmental unite listed below exercise tax levying authority in Orange County and, as
<br />such, were entitled to be heard:
<br />Orange County
<br />Town of Hillsboro
<br />Town of Chapel Hill
<br />Town of Carrboxv
<br />Town of Mebane
<br />Special Districts:
<br />Chapel Hill Schools
<br />Greater Chapel Hill Fire
<br />Tyson Clayton, Assistant Tax Supervisor, was present to represent S. M. Gattis who was unable
<br />to attend. Mr. Clayton handed out copies of the following statements which had been prepared by
<br />Mr. Gattis:
<br />Items To Consider Prior To The Selection
<br />of An Assessment Ratio
<br />Orange County: From the point of view of the County, at least the following items should be
<br />considered before an assessment ratio is selected.
<br />Tax Hate
<br />The greater the assessment ratio, the lower the tax rate will be: The real significance
<br />of this is not found in the total rate levied, but rather in the fact that for certain purposes a
<br />maximum rate to be levied is prescribed by law. Therefore, if one is currently levying near the
<br />maximum rate, it might be desirable to have the total valuation increased dramatically. In Orange
<br />County the tax rate limitation is so far above the sates presently levied, it is highly improbable
<br />taat the County could be caught in an embarrassing position because of this.
<br />As you remember, the North Carolina Constitution sets a limitation of 20¢ on the $100.00
<br />of property valuation as the maximum a county may levy for General Fund purposes. There is no
<br />maximum limit for Schools, Welfare, Debt. Retirement, Public Health or the other major areas in
<br />which we operate. Principally because A B C revenues are deposited in our General Fund, we are
<br />able to operate almost all departments of our government except those just mentioned above with no
<br />tax levy at all. If we were to loose our A. B C revenue, legally, at least we would be able to
<br />finance the General Fund within the presently imposed 20¢ limit.
<br />Credit Bating
<br />Unquestionably, the higher the property valuation, all other things being equal, the better
<br />credit rating a county has. As we will in all probability seek to borrow money again in the not
<br />too distant future, this point is worthy of consideration.
<br />Debt. Limit
<br />In the absence of special legislation to the contrary, counties have a debt limit of 5%
<br />for school purposes. On January 1, 1964, our property valuation was $116,000,000 and today our
<br />school debt is about $4,000,000 on the basis of these figures, we could today issue school bond of
<br />about $1,800,000.
<br />Assessment Complaints
<br />Without a doubt, the higher the. assessment ratio the more complaints are filed over tax
<br />assessments. For the first few years after the revaluation of 1954, a substantial number of com-
<br />plaints about property assessments were filed each year. In the last five years, however, as real
<br />estate values have risen rapidly, and tax assessments have fallen to little more than 50% of current
<br />market price, the number of assessments appeals has dwindled away to almost nothing. For 1964 tax,
<br />we assessed about 500 buildings and 1,500 tracts of land. There were less than twenty complaints
<br />filed with the tax office and none of these appealed to the Board of Equalization and Review.
<br />The Towns:
<br />The choice of an assessment ratio by the County affects, of course, the towns tax rate,
<br />credit rating and debt limit in the same manner it affects the County. As the cities in Orange
<br />County maintain no property assessment machinery, they are not confronted with assessment appeals.
<br />Since I an not familiar with the financial position of the towns involved, I cannot comment on any
<br />particular situation. However, representatives of the towns will be at the hearing to plead their
<br />case.
|