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Board of Equalization and Review

Orange County · Board of Equalization & Review
Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Regular meeting Housing and affordabilityTax rate and revaluationStormwater and flooding

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

The Orange County Board of Equalization and Review heard 17 residential tax appeals of 2026 revaluation values on January 20, 2026, in a morning session of 11 appeals and an afternoon session of six more. The board reduced sixteen properties and sustained one.

Three appeals from related Chapel Hill rental entities, 304 Caldwell LLC, 300 Caldwell LLC and 215 Broad LLC, stood out: the county recommended raising two of the Caldwell properties' values after finding they were misclassified as duplexes rather than single-family rentals, but the board cut all three below both the current and the county's proposed figures. In the afternoon, the board applied a -75% flood adjustment to a vacant Lannie Drive parcel prone to flooding, cutting its value from $60,600 to $15,600, and reduced a comparably steep, stream-crossed lot on Carl Drive after the owner said unsolicited purchase offers had run as low as $10,000.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Three of the board's nine members attended the morning session: Chair Leon Meyers, Richal Vanhook and Barbara Levine. The board reduced 10 of the 11 morning appeals. Amy Poe's 119 Graylyn Drive home was cut from $1,188,400 to $1,051,000 based on comparable per-square-foot values. Nancy Mason's West Franklin Street condo was reduced to $602,000 based on a private appraisal, more than the county's own recommendation of no change. George McAdoo, Erin Bell, Frank Saavedra Lim, Jamonica Torain and Christina Nickerson all received reductions the county itself had proposed, for condition, land, or square-footage corrections. 318 Brooks LLC's Brooks Street home was reduced to $384,800 for a drainage easement the county's own outside reviewer had not recommended. The three related Caldwell/Broad Street rental properties were all reduced to values below what the county had proposed after building-type corrections: 304 and 300 Caldwell Street to $400,000 each, and 215 Broad Street to $419,500.

In the afternoon, three of nine members attended: Leon Meyers, Richal Vanhook and Shannon Julian. The board reduced Sharon Carmen's vacant Gwen Road lot to $70,100, Michael West's Sinai Circle home to $497,700 for a creek-related adjustment beyond what the county proposed, Thomas Brown's flood-prone Lannie Drive parcel to $15,600, William Aldridge's steep, stream-crossed Carl Drive lot to $41,400, and Pamela Butler's Old NC 86 land to $28,300 after her building permit was denied. It sustained Nalin Parikh's 104 Old Stable Court townhome at $335,700 after both a county appraiser and an outside valuation firm found no basis for a reduction.

How the votes went

All 17 decisions passed without recorded dissent among the three members present at each session. In the morning, Leon Meyers, Richal Vanhook and Barbara Levine rotated as movant and seconder; in the afternoon, Richal Vanhook and Shannon Julian did, with Leon Meyers joining on two motions.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (2)

Public hearing · 2
  1. II (9:00 a.m.) Morning appeals hearings
    Public hearing Housing and affordabilityTax rate and revaluation
    The board heard 11 morning appeals. Seven owners attended or were represented; four were decided without them. Grounds included disputed comparables, property condition and square-footage counts. The board reduced all 11 assessments, cutting their combined value from $5,192,700 to $4,432,500, a $760,200 drop. Individual cuts ranged from 6% to 30%, with a median near 14%. The largest swings fell on three related Chapel Hill rental entities, 304 Caldwell LLC, 300 Caldwell LLC and 215 Broad LLC. County staff found two of the three misclassified as duplexes and recommended raising their values. The board cut all three below both the current and the county's proposed figures instead.
    All reduced
    • 119 Graylyn Dr · no matching parcel on file
    • Pin 9777859152 · Poe Amy A · assessed $1,051,000
  2. II (1:00 p.m.) Afternoon appeals hearings
    Public hearing Housing and affordabilityStormwater and floodingTax rate and revaluation
    The board heard six afternoon appeals; all six owners attended, one of them remotely. Grounds ranged from flooding and steep terrain on vacant land to a comparable-sale dispute and a broker's valuation estimate. The board reduced five assessments and left one unchanged. Combined value fell from $1,157,700 to $988,800, a $168,900 drop. Cuts ranged from none to about 75%, with a median near 20%. The two largest cuts fell on vacant, flood- and slope-affected lots on Lannie Drive and Carl Drive.
    • 514 Alpha Dr · no matching parcel on file
    • Pin 9835334360 · Mcadoo George A · assessed $217,200

Agenda changes

What moved between published versions of this agenda. Item numbers shift constantly as things are inserted, so only genuine additions and removals are listed.

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