TAX NEWS - June 2010

North Carolina Tax: No county tax increase this year in Orange County

CHAPEL HILL - For the first time in two decades, county taxpayers will pay no tax increase in the coming fiscal year.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners have tentatively approved a $175 million budget with no change in the county property tax rate of 86 cents per $100 of assessed value. Final approval should come Tuesday.

The board's decision keeps taxes stable throughout the county. Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough also have kept or plan to keep tax rates unchanged.

Taxpayers in Chapel Hill will pay a total bill of about $1.54 per $100, including the Chapel Hill-Carrboro city school district rate.

If tentative budgets are approved next week, Carrboro's total tax rate would be $1.64 per $100 and Hillsborough's about $1.48.

Adding in various fire-district and applicable city school-district rates, rural Orange County homeowners will pay 90 cents to $1.12 per $100.

Allotted $500,000 in discretionary spending by County Manager Frank Clifton, the commissioners opted to keep the Carrboro Cybrary open its current 30 hours per week and the main library in Hillsborough 60 hours a week.

The commissioners also restored the county's economic development budget to $68,000, which Clifton had cut by more than half.

"If we're serious about economic development, if we want everyone else to know we're serious about economic development, this is not the year to cut our economic development budget," said Commissioner Steve Yuhasz. "Economic development is the one area where we can apply resources to help us get out of the situation we're in."

Commissioners followed Library Director Lucinda Munger's advice and voted to close the Cedar Grove Branch library, which costs four times as much to run per patron as the main library because far fewer people use it.

Commissioner Barry Jacobs had pushed to maintain library service north of Hillsborough.

"There's almost no sign of county government other than a few solid waste convenience centers, a couple of deputies driving by and our parks," he said.

Jacobs did manage to persuade the board to spend $45,000 to retain a breastfeeding consultant who serves young Hispanic mothers. Clifton had suggested absorbing that function into existing health department personnel, but Jacobs said the lactation consultant has built trust with the Latina community.

"I hope we're not making decisions based on individuals," Clifton said.

Jacobs said he had never met the woman but had heard a story of her taking a late-night call from a young mother whose baby was turning blue. The consultant urged her to go to the emergency room, where personnel resuscitated the child.