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THE MINUTES OF THE ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW
May 15, 1975
The Orange County Board of Equalisation and Review met Thursday., May l5,
1975, at 7:00 p.m. in the Commissioners Room at the Courthouse in Hillsborough,
N. C.
Members present: Chairman Flora Garrett, Commissioners Norm Gustaveson,
Jan Pinney, Norman Walker, Richard E. Whitted.
Members absent: None.
The Board heard appeals of 1975 real property tax valuations fvr the indicated
properties by the following persons:
Townsh~ Tax M~ Block Parcel
K. Carroll Kennedy Chapel Hi11 27 A 3A
Royal H. Spence, Pres. Chapel Hill 27 A 2
Burlington Industrial Realty Co. 28 - 35
41D A 17,18,18A,18B,
19,20,20A,21,
22,23,24,25,
41D D g,9A,19
41D E 1,2
41E A 1,2,3,14,16,
& 21
41E C 1,5,6,7,8,9,
& 10
41E D 1,10,11
41E E l
K. Byron McCoy Chapel Hill 80 D 7
(for Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity)
Sion D. Jennings Chapel Hill 66 C 5 (NML Bldg.West)
(for Frank H. Kenan)
John A. Cates, Treas. Chapel Hill 108 ^ 10,10.A,1OB,11
Webb Development, Inc. 30 - 2B
John A. Cates Chapel Hill 85 M 14
The following appeals also were cpnsidered by the Board although the appellants
were unable to appear:
Bruce F. Grove, Tax Representative
Texaco, Inc. Chapel Hill 86 n 1
Lyda Eubanks orgain Chapel Hill 52 ^ 2
The Board resolved the appeal by the Orange County Medical Foundation, Inc.
heard April 29, 1975, by appropriate order affirming the Tax Supervisor's denial
of a 1975 application for exemption fvr the Foundation's property in Hillsborough
Township (Tax Map 36 Block p Lot SA), having received the opinion of the County
Attorney set out below:
"Atarecent meeting of the Board of County Commissioners the County Attorney
was requested to advise the Board as to whether or not the Board of Commis-
sinners have the authority to exempt from taxation certain classes or types
of property that may be subject to taxation pursuant to the North Carolina
General Statutes.
Under immediate consideration was the property located adjacent to the
_ present property of the Department of Social Services, the subject property
being owned presently by anon-profit corporation with the intended use of
the property being that a medical clinic building will be constructed thereon
and thereafter the clinic will be used by pne or more 'local physicians which
use shall be occasioned by rental agreement or lease from the non-profit corpor^
ation to the said one or more local physicians.
The Board of Commissioners had previously received from a member of the
Institute of Government and from the Tax Supervisor, Bill Laws, opinions to
.the effec t that the present statutes do not exempt this property from taxation.
The County Attorney was requested to determine whether or not he agrees
with those opinions and further to determine whether or not the County has the
authority to exempt such property from taxation.
After an examination of the North Carolina General Statutes and the North
Carolina Constitution, it is the opinion of the County Attorney that the
County does not have the authority to exempt the subject property from
taxation.
The County Attorney agrees with Mr. Bill Campbell of the Snstitute of Govern-
, ~ ment with respect to General Statutes Sections 105-278.7 and 1D5-278.8 that
according to the terms thereof the subject property is not exempt from taxation.
- 5~8
Article 12 of the North Carolina General Statutes and particularly Section
105-274 reads as follows:
`(a) A11 ro ert real and ersonal, within the 'urisdiction of the State shall
be subject to taxation unless it s:
(1) Excluded from the tax base b a statute of statewide applicaEion_
enacted under the classification power accorded the General Assembly
by Article v, Sec. 2(2), of the North Carolina Constitution, or
(2) Exe___mpted from taxation by the Constitution orb a statute of
Statew de a lication enacts under the•.=.authority granted the
General Assembly y Article V, Sec. 2(3), of the North Carolina
Constitution.'
A reading of the Constitution of North Carolina in the appropriate section is as
follows:
'Article V, Section 2 (3) Exemptions. Property belonging to the State,
counties, and municipal corporations shall be exempt from taxation. The
General Assembly may exempt cemeteries and property held for educational,
scientific, literary, cultural, charitable, or religious purposes, and,
to a value not exceeding $'300 ,. any personal property. The General Assembly
may exempt from taxatien not exceeding $1,000 in value of property held and
used as the place of residence of the owner. Eve exem tion shall be on a
State-wide basis and shall be made b eneral law uni orml a livable in
eve count , cit and town, and other un t o local overnment. No toxin
authorit other than the General Assembl ma rant exemptions, and the
General Assembl shall not de le ate the owers accorded to it b this sub-
sactxon.
Considering then the above quoted and referred to sections of the General
Statutes and the Constitution, it is the opinion of the County Attorney that the
County does not have the authority to exempt the subject property from taxation:'.'
The Board adopted appropriate orders reducing the 1975 valuation appealed by
Texaco, Inc. (Chapel Hill Township, Tax Map 86 Block D Parcel i) from $165,800.
to $155,700; reducing the 1975 valuation of the property of John A. Cates (Chapel
Hill Township, Tax Map BS Block M Parcel 14) from $108,400. to $77,300; reducing the
1975 valuation of the property of R. Harris Pope (Cedar Grove Township, Ta.x Map 26
Parcel 3; appeal heard May 2, 1975) from $32,500.to $30,600; reducing the 1975
valuation of that property identified as Chapel Hill Township, Tax Map 108 Parcel l0A
appealed by Webb Development, Inc., #rom $4,900. to $1,200; reductina the 1975
valuation of that property of Burlington Industrial Realty Company identified as
Chapel Hill Township, Tax Map 28 Parcel 35 from $192,300. to $115,400.; reducing
the 1975 valuations of that property of Burlington Industrial Realty Company identi-
fied as Chapel Hill Township, Tax Map 27 Block A Parcel 2 from $270,300. to $141,600.
The Board by appropriate order reduced the 1975 valuation of the Northwestern Mutual
rife Building, West, apart of the University Square Complex in Chapel Hill (Tax
Map 86 Block C Parcel 5), owned by Frank H. xenan, from 51,816,000 to $1,113,000,
thereby reducing the total valuation of the University Square property from $10,710,500
to $10,008,100 for 1975 and instructed the Tax Supervisor to review this valuation
for the 1976 tax year in light of the building's income production and specifically
its rate of occupancy.
The Board by appropriate orders confirmed the 1975 valuation appealed by Lyda
Eubanks Orgain (Chapel Hi11 Township, Tax Map 52 Parcel 2); confirmed the 1975
valuation of that property of Webb ~velopment, Inc. in Chapel Hi11 Township
identified as Tax Map 108 Parcel lO,lOB,11 and Tax Map 30 Parcel 2B; confirmed the
1975 valuation of that property of Burlington Industrial Realty Company in Chapel
Hill Township identified above on Tax Maps 41D and 41E (lots in Booker Creek Sub-
division).
The Board deferred resolution of the appeal by K. Carroll Kennedy pending further
consideration and a determination as to whether a small portion of the subject pro-
perty is in fact with an R-5 zone designated by the Town of Chapel Hill; the Board
also deferred resolution of the appeal presented by x. Byron McCoy for Alpha Tau
Dmega Fraternity pending further consideration and submission by Mr. McCoy of an
appraisal report on'the subject property.
The Board recessed to reconvene at 7:00 o'clock p.m., May 29, 1975 in the
Commissioners Room of the Orange County Courthouse.
~i~0.~~
Flora x. Garrett, Chairman
J
William T. Laws, Acting Clerk