Inequities in Recent Property Tax Revaluation

[BillyJackson3691]

Dear Commissioners,

I am writing to you today in regards to the recent property tax revolutions in our county.  When I first received my revaluation I was honestly a little shocked.  There have been no major renovations etc to my property since the last revaluation.  At first I attributed this to the overall increases in real estate values recently.  However, it has come to light that these vast increases seem to have been unfairly applied to our neighborhood versus other more affluent neighborhoods with similar distances to downtown Chapel Hill.  

Data gathered by our neighborhood organizations shows percentage increases for our area are as much as 4-5 times that of other nearby neighborhoods.  At particular odds with logic is our average per acre price at over 1 million dollars.  Unless the assessor knows of some rare earth metals under our soil, then I don't understand how an acre of our land is valued at 3-4 times that of other nearby neighborhoods.

To me, it comes across that this was an attempt to squeeze out some tax revenue from communities normally assumed not to have the resources to fight such a heinous increase in tax burden.  However, I'd like to hope that this was just a result of a faulty evaluation formula applied in a blanket manner to a neighborhood that needs more nuance.

I know there is an appeals process, but I believe the base amount from which to begin that process is currently unjustifiable.  There is also good reason to believe that many residents of our neighborhood will feel intimidated by the appeals process and just give in.  While that's not implicitly your problem, I hope you will sympathize with the difficulties many in our community feel when trying to deal with authorities, which ultimately lead to them falling between the cracks.

I would like to see several things to begin to address this.

1.  Please extend the informal appeals period by another 30 or 60 days.

2.  Please accept an initial class-action appeal on behalf of all Northside residents.  Then individuals can appeal to work out any details specific to their property.

3.  Please reduce the land value appraisals to match the per acre rates of other nearby neighborhoods.

4.  Please instruct assessors to determine how their formula resulted in these gross inequities, and determine corrections so that this doesn't happen again.

Regards,

Billy Jackson

302 Lloyd St, Carrboro

[Nancy Freeman]

Good afternoon Mr. Jackson,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

We do understand your concerns, and would encourage you to appeal the value of your property. There is an appeal form included with your revaluation notice, and an online appeal tool for your convenience. Please do not hesitate to contact our office for assistance in completing the form: 919-245-2100, option 2 or re...@orangecountync.gov .

 

Please be aware that we are currently reviewing the Northside area valuations to ensure that we have followed the North Carolina General Statutes that govern the valuation of real property.

 

Best regards,

Nancy Freeman

Tax Administrator

Orange County Tax Office

Hillsborough, NC

919-245-2735

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela

 

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[Renee Price]

Mr. Jackson,

Orange County is working on short term and long term strategies to address the issue, and we are collaborating with Delores Bailey of EmPOWERment and Kathy Atwater and George Barrett of the Marion Cheek Jackson Center; plus former Judge Beverly Scarlett has offered to help. I personally met with them last week, along with staff from the Tax Assessor's office. Please know that the issue also is affecting our neighbors in Pine Knolls, Tin Top and rural northern Orange. 

In no way are we ignoring the issue.

Respectfully,

Renée

Renee A. Price, Commissioner/Chair

Board of County Commissioners

Orange County, North Carolina

919-593-1904

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From: BillyJackson3691 <billb...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 11:46 AM
To: Nancy Freeman
Cc: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK; Steven "Chad" Phillips
Subject: [EXTERNAL MAIL!] Re: Inequities in Recent Property Tax Revaluation

 

I would just like to say the county's response to this has been abysmally out of touch.  Not only have you ignored all points of our requests to make this make sense, but your assessor has belligerently sought to justify the methods used as legal with zero consideration if they are equitable and appropriate.  I don't care if you legally can make these decisions as you are, I care if you can make them justifiably to a reasonable person.  The data where you are clearly giving wealthy properties tax value breaks of hundreds of thousands of dollars while at the same time increasing decades long residents' property taxes by %50-%100 should appall you.  Somehow it has not and you are moving forward with your "steal from the poor and give to the rich" plan.  It's also clear you didn't read my initial message, as in it I said I didn't want to just be told everyone needs to fill out an appeal.  What do you immediately do in your response?  You guessed it, I was just told to fill out an appeal.  Make it make sense.  Your duty is to all county residents.  Not just the wealthy ones that apparently are favored by this board.