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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 08-20-2002 - 8d _ r ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: August 20, 2002 Action Agenda Item No. 0 1 SUBJECT: Property Tax Refunds DEPARTMENT: Assessor's Office PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: John Smith, ext. 2101 Resolution Tax Refund Requests TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968.4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider adoption of refund resolution related to four(4) requests for property tax refunds. BACKGROUND: The Assessor's Office has received requests from four (4) taxpayers for refund of property taxes paid in prior fiscal years. General Statute 105-381(b), "Action of Governing Body" provides that "upon receiving a taxpayer's written statement of defense and request for release or refund, the governing body of the Taxing Unit shall within 90 days after receipt of such a request determine whether the taxpayer has a valid defense to the tax imposed or any part thereof and shall either release or refund that portion of the amount that is determined to be in excess of the correct liability or notify the taxpayer in writing that no release or refund will be made". North Carolina law allows the Board to approve property tax refunds for the current and four previous fiscal years. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Approval of this change will result in a net reduction in revenue of $72,878.53 to the County, municipalities, and special districts. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve the attached resolution approving four (4) property tax refund requests in accordance with N.C. General Statute 105-381. 2 NORTH CAROLINA ORANGE COUNTY REFUND RESOLUTION(Approval) Whereas,North Carolina General Statutes 105-381 and/or 330.2(B)allows for the refund of taxes when the Board of County Commissioners determines that a taxpayer applying for the refund has a valid defense to the tax imposed;and Whereas,the properties listed in each of the attached"Request for property Tax Refunds"has been taxed and the tax has been collected:and Whereas,as to each of the properties listed in the Request for Property Tax Refunds,the taxpayer has timely applied in writing for a refund of the tax imposed and has presented a valid defense to the tax imposed as indicated on the Request for Property Tax Refunds. NOW,THEREFORE,IT IS RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ORANGE COUNTY THAT the recommended property tax refund(s)are approved. Upon motion duly made and seconded,the foregoing resolution was passed by the following votes: Ayes: Comai1ssioners Noes: I,Beverly A.Blythe,Clerk to the Board of Commissioners for the County of Orange,North Carolina,DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing has been carefully copied from the recorded minutes of the Board of Commissioners for said County at a regular meeting of said Board held on said record having been made in the Minute Book of the minutes of said Board, and is a true copy of so much of said proceedings of said Board as relates in any way to the passage of the resolution described in said proceedings. WITNESS my hand and the corporate seal of said County,this day of ,2002. Clerk to the Board of Commissioners c 3 REQUEST b FOR_PROPERW TAX REFUND Map Nbr: 4.13.A.20 Tract Nbr: 401126 Account Nbr: 169179 Rate Code: 23 Name: Torain,Edward James, etal & Genean Torain Address: 1632 Hawfield Dr. Mebane,NC 27302 Action Requested: Request property tax refund for 2000, 1999, 1998, & 1997. Recommendation: Approve total property tax refimd of$1,772.78 Explanation: House destroyed by fire in 1995. Letter of confirmation from Hillsborough Fire Department on file in Assessor's Office. Bills corrected for 2002 and 2001. Refund calculated on value of house only for years allowed by N. C. General Statutes. Reference: General Statute 105-381(a)(1)b. An illegal tax. 4 _ t, AX Map Nbr: n/a Tract Nbr: n/a Account Nbr: 214194 Rate Code: 02 Name: Rennheck Consulting,Inc. Address: 123 Mel Oaks Drive Chapel Hill,NC 27516 Action Requested:Request property tax refund for 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Recommendation: Approve total property tax refund of$194.21 Explanation: Personal Property taxed in wrong rate code. Taxed in rate code 22 and should be taxed in rate code 02. Reference: General Statute 105-381(a)(1)a. A tax imposed through clerical error. 5 REQUEST. i.: .FOR PROPERTY-TAX OFUM Map Nbr: 1.16..16 Tract Nbr: 157099 Account Nbr: 100585 Rate Code: 15 Name: Nichols, Samuel E. Jr. &Holly B. Address: 4310 Hawkins Rd. Hurdle Mills,NC 27541-8001 Action Requested:Request property tax refund for 1999, 2000,and 2001. Recommendation: Approve total property tax refund of$2,964.52 Explanation: Illegal tax resulted when improvements incorrectly measured and listed. Reference: General Statute 105-381(ax1)b. An illegal tax. 6 Map Nbr: 7.27.E.2 Tract Nbr: 724263 Account Nbr: 198989 Rate Code: 22 Name: SLT Realty Ltd Ptns Starwood Lodging Address: 2231 E. Camelback Rd Ste 400 Phoenix,AZ 85016 Action Requested: Request property tax refund for 2001. Recommendation: Approve total property tax refund of$67,947.02 Explanation: Property Tax Commission Decision: Tax value of Sheraton Inn(formerly Omni-Europa)located on Hwy 15-501 was appealed for tax year 2001 to the North Carolina Property Tax Commission. The basics for the appeal was that the true value of the property was below the$13,999,655 derived by the county through application of the cost approach. Extensive income and expense data was provided and analyzed resulting in a value indicator based on the income approach. After in-depth consultation with an area MAI and others knowledgeable of the hotel industry market conditions, determination was made that a value significantly below the cost approach estimate should be strongly considered. Since the best indicator of value is yielded by the income approach and since there was strong evidence to support this lower valuation, the value has been adjusted by the PTC to $9,659,762. Reference: General Statute 105-290(6)(3). Property Tax Commission appeal.