Residents, coalition urge Orange County to address sharp property revaluations

Dozens of Orange County residents and members of the Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition urged the Board of County Commissioners on June 17 to address what they described as inequitable property revaluations that have sharply increased taxable values in several long-established neighborhoods.

Speakers said the reassessments have hit elders, homeowners on fixed incomes and historically underrepresented communities. "Long time residents — many of whom are elders or on fixed incomes — face the possibility of being priced out of homes we have spent generations building and protecting," said George Barrett, a member of the Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition. Barrett listed neighborhoods including Northside, Councilville, Rogers Road, Pine Knolls, Cedar Grove and others.

The coalition presented a petition signed by about 270 people and a list of specific requests for the county. Among the items they asked the county to consider were: presenting neighborhood-level evidence to the Board of Equalization and Review; undertaking a reassessment or neighborhood-adjusted valuations for affected areas; correcting the assessment of luxury apartment buildings they said are undervalued; adopting mass-assessment tools to improve vertical equity; and expanding staff capacity to implement changes.

Several residents described large year-over-year valuation changes. Lily Brown, who identified herself as the owner of two Rogers Road properties, said one parcel's market value rose from $51,300 in 2024 to $131,600 under the new valuation — a difference she described as unexplained for a half-acre lot with woods. "It's just a half acre of land. Half of it's just woods," Brown said.

Other speakers described similar experiences. Heather said her 90-year-old grandmother in Chapel Hill was displaced after taxes increased substantially. "She's 90 years old, and it doesn't make any sense why people marginalized in seniors have to deal with this," Heather said. William Gavis, who described himself as a 79-year-old fixed-income homeowner, contrasted his home's tax value with a nearby larger rental property and said he had taken a loan to pay taxes.

Commissioners and staff briefly explained the limits of their processes for appeals. The county manager and the board clarified that the Board of Equalization and Review handles individual appeals and that an organization cannot appeal on behalf of multiple homeowners; homeowners must file appeals for their own properties, though community members may attend hearings to support appellants. A county official referred to state law as governing BOE procedures.

Commissioners acknowledged the public comments and described next steps. Several commissioners said staff and the board were hearing the concerns and that a staff work group would examine appraisal tools and vertical tax equity. The board also noted a separate expansion of the county's long-time homeowners assistance program in the current budget cycle: commissioners approved increasing the program's funding to roughly $353,000 (up from $250,000) and said eligibility criteria and application timing would be announced on the county website; applications typically start in August.

The public comment period closed after multiple speakers recounted similar experiences and asked for clearer explanations of how revaluations were calculated.

The board did not take a direct vote on reassessments during the meeting; commissioners asked staff to follow up and scheduled further discussion during upcoming business meetings.

Many comments asked the county to publicly explain valuation methodology and to pursue neighborhood-level remedies; commissioners said staff would continue to engage and that homeowners should file individual appeals if they wish to begin the formal review process.

Residents who spoke emphasized the effects on elders, family land passed down across generations and the risk of displacement. Several also asked the county to engage outside expertise and to work with state or nonprofit partners on assessment fairness.