Business Meeting

Meeting recap

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

Eight residents spoke, six of them about the revaluation. One described the history of discriminatory taxation in North Carolina and said the pattern now runs on income rather than race, with poorer people taxed more; she said she has taken part in 20 appeals. A representative of Homeowners United of Habitat for Humanity Orange County asked the board to change how affordable housing is valued, covering twelve neighbourhoods and 445 homes whose owners are income-restricted and never buy on the open market. The chair said the board is looking for legislation that would let Habitat homes be valued differently.

The budget discussion turned on how much of the increase could be taken out. The manager said delaying capital projects a year would remove the 1.94 cent pay-go increase, leaving about a penny for operations. Removing the 1.01 cents for school and county operations would take out $3.3 million, which he illustrated as the whole budgets of the Department on Aging, environment and parks, and housing, or a reduction in force spread across departments. Fully funding the continuation request would add another 0.95 cents. Staff said the state's decision on salary increases will not be known before the budget is adopted, and often is not known until September or October. One commissioner petitioned again for an agenda item setting out the specific cuts needed to reach a revenue neutral rate, and said July would be too late to lower it.

The financing hearing drew nobody, and the board adopted the resolution asking the Local Government Commission to approve the borrowing.

On opioid settlement money, staff reported the county expects $12,748,445 over 18 years and has spent $376,438 since 2022 across eight Option A strategies. Fourteen community applications came in by the February deadline and the Opioid Advisory Committee recommended five: Piedmont Health $50,400, El Futuro $50,000, Freedom House $72,000, UNC SHAC $37,600 and the Reintegration Support Network $20,000. Staff will bring a spending authorization resolution on 20 May.

How the votes went

All recorded votes were unanimous: the proclamation, opening and closing the financing hearing, the Local Government Commission resolution, the opioid recommendations, the consent agenda and adjournment.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

8 members of the public spoke.

1. A resident read on the history of discriminatory taxation in North Carolina, said the revaluation continues it along income lines, and said she has taken part in 20 appeals.
2. A co-executive director of Grow Your World thanked the juvenile crime prevention council for recommending funding and described the year's mentoring work.
3. A co-executive director of Grow Your World said it is easier for a student to get a vape than free afterschool mentoring, and objected to county and community opioid funding requests being considered separately.
4. A resident asked the county to look into supporting a growing volunteer Styrofoam recycling programme.
5. A lifelong resident said her revaluation was wrong and asked what factors went into it.
6. A resident appealing the value of the FHA house she moved into in 1976 described its condition and her contact with the tax office.
7. A Habitat for Humanity homeowner, speaking for Homeowners United of Habitat for Humanity Orange County, asked the board to change how affordable housing is valued across twelve neighbourhoods and 445 income-restricted homes.
8. A resident said new housing in Hillsborough is unaffordable to many, that the county's African American population has fallen, and asked commissioners to visit residents.

Eight speakers. Six addressed the 2025 revaluation, one of them asking that Habitat homes be valued by a different method. Two spoke for a youth mentoring non-profit about opioid settlement funding.

Read from the records the government published after the meeting. Members of the public are private residents and are not named or indexed.