By Neil Pedersen The recommended operating budget that I have submitted to the board of education for its consideration at its March 5 meeting is unlike any other budget recommendation that I have prepared during my 17-year tenure as the superintendent of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. I am not requesting any increase in the…
Letter to the Editor: An open Carrboro
Dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs can be idyllic neighborhoods. Kids play freely and neighbors visit each other with little threat from cars. In the Carrboro Transportation Advisory Board, we’ve been asked to preserve this environment by blocking connections to new developments. Residents have asked why we recommend to do otherwise – isn’t that exactly what Carrboro…
As the season turns, keep safety in mind
By Margot C. Lester The promise of warmer weather this weekend is another reminder that bicycle ridership jumps in the spring. Bike shops are getting busy as folks bring in their rides for tune-ups or trade ups. For everyone on the road, it’s time to tune in to bike safety. Each year, more than 900…
Fixing our crumbling economy: Employee Free Choice Act will help
By Louisa Warren It’s no surprise to anyone that our economy is in shambles. At 8.7 percent, North Carolina’s unemployment rate is the highest in a generation and nearly 400,000 North Carolinians are out of work. Job loss is continuing at staggering rates and our national economy shed almost 600,000 jobs in January. Couple that…
Flashback to the Freedom Rides
By Jasmina Nogo Staff Writer
Revaluation in Orange County
From this week’s issue — Reporters Margot Lester and Rich Fowler offer a detailed look at the revaluation issue. • Main Story: Revaluations squeeze home, business owners • How revaluations are calculated • How to appeal your revaluation • Neighborhoods with the biggest gains and drops.
Highest and lowest increases in revaluations
Revaluations by the numbers • 290 neighborhoods consisting of 19,591 residential properties • 143 neighborhoods consisting of 10,517 properties had revaluations in excess of the county average 26 percent. • 147 neighborhoods consisting of 8,782 properties had revaluations below the county average. Neighborhoods With Highest Increases • White Oak Condos, 95 properties in Carrboro around…
Common sense and taxes
By tradition, we take the term “revolt†very seriously here in Orange County. The practice goes back prior to the founding of the country; and thanks in part to a little rebellion that brewed up in Orange and Alamance counties in the mid 1700s, the groundwork for a revolution was set.
University chooses first Eve Carson Scholar
By Jasmina Nogo Staff Writer Despite her busy schedule of endless campus meetings, late nights studying and early mornings of trail restoration, Elinor Benami has a calm and patient disposition and makes those around her feel like there’s nowhere else in the world she’d rather be. “Even though I know she’s one of the busiest…
Residents question connector road policy
By Susan Dickson Staff Writer CARRBORO — After hours of public comment regarding connector roads for two proposed developments, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted on Tuesday to postpone decisions on both Claremont Phases IV and V and Colleton Crossing. The plans for Claremont Phases IV and V, across Homestead Road from the development’s first…
Revaluations squeeze home, business owners
By Rich Fowler and Margot C. Lester Staff Writers It wasn’t that long ago that seeing a rise in your property value indicated a good return on investment. But the challenging economy has turned that mentality on its head. “In our normal circumstances, people would be happy to see the value of their house go…
How revaluations are done
Every four years, the six-person Orange County Tax Assessor’s office reassesses the tax value of 53,000 pieces of residential and commercial property and other real estate in the county. But the actual process begins about two years before the revaluation takes effect, when assessors begin tracking real estate sales and evaluate how close overall tax…
Appealing your revaluation
Think your revaluation is out of whack? Here’s how to appeal it. “If you just go in with ‘I think you’re wrong,’ you’re not going to get anywhere with them,†said Mark Zimmerman, owner of Re/Max Winning Edge in Chapel Hill. Bring as much data to prove your point as possible. Download the Valuation Input…
Columbia Street widening gets final OK
By Kirk Ross Staff Writer CHAPEL HILL — After decades of back and forth with the university and the state Department of Transportation, the Chapel Hill Town Council gave final approval to a $4.4 million project for South Columbia Street from Fordham Boulevard to Manning Drive. The project would reshape the street to include two…
Crowd protests taxes
By Rich Fowler Staff Writer HILLSBOROUGH — It’s uncertain how many people turned out Monday night at the Red Barn at Daniel Boone Village in Hillsborough for the Orange County Tax Revolt meeting. The line snaked around the barn and event organizers said they stopped counting the number of people both inside and out after…