Taxes

[Tracy Crane]

Salutations,
I am sure that y’all get comments about taxes all the time. But really it has gotten out of hand. Some of the houses in the neighborhood’s taxes have gone up 98% in one year. We are paying double what we did just four years ago. I understand that you need money to do things, but perhaps there would be some other way besides making the people who live here pay so much. I assume that you want the young people to move in the area and keep it artsy and interesting but you are pricing the 30 somethings out. My son and his wife could afford to live here several years ago but now I have to help them out every month. She is a music teacher and he works as a GIS surveyor. And yes, I have filed for an appeal that will be coming up in April but based on discussions with that office, I doubt that anything will change. They are basing their taxes on housing prices that shot up briefly because of Covid- things have settled back down. No one would pay us what you have the “appraised” Plus, we had all the devastation from the flooding. People are trying to pay for repairs, or sell… And things are not selling. I would urge you into perhaps charging an extra penny on sales tax or something and reduce the property taxes. Thank you so much for your service to the community. Tracy Crane Re Weatherhill point Carrboro.
Sent from my iPhone

[Jean Hamilton]

Dear Tracy Crane,

On behalf of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), thank you for sharing the impact of the property tax burden you are facing. We know that the increased property taxes from the revaluation and county and town budgets result in many residents, especially those on fixed incomes, having to make hard decisions to pay their taxes.  The BOCC established the Tax Assessment Work Group to review how property revalutions are done to improve the fairness and transparency of our assessment processes. As for changing the sales tax, any change allowed by state statute has to go to a public referendum first.

 

The BOCC approved increased funding of the county Longtime Homeowners Assistance Program (LHAP) to provide some tax help to eligible homeowners. The towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill contribute to the LHAP as well.

In addition, the State of North Carolina has three main property tax relief programs for elderly and/or disabled residents. You can learn about those programs on the Orange County website at https://orangecountync.gov/1787/Property-Tax-Assistance-Programs, call 919-245-2100 (Option 2), or email: taxr...@orangecountync.gov. 

The BOCC will spend much of our time this spring reviewing actual and projected county government expenditures and revenues to establish the fiscal year 2026-27 Budget and tax rate. There are budget public hearings scheduled for May 12 and May 28. We welcome public feedback at those times, at our business meetings, and by email.  With cuts in Federal spending and state funding uncertainties, this is an especially challenging economic and fiscal climate.  However, commissioners are aware that we need to continue to consider tax burdens during our budget deliberations this spring.

Sincerely,

Jean

Jean Hamilton, Chair

Orange County Board of Commissioners

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From: Tracy Crane <tcr...@sc.rr.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2026 8:22 AM
To: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>
Subject: Taxes

 

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