New Orange County Tax Asssessor Jenks Crayton is making the rounds of local boards. The county is due for a revaluation next year. Jenkins told the Board of Aldermen last week and is scheduled to tell the Town Council tonight what that would mean.

In a story coming in Wednesday's CHN, correspondent Tammy Grubb reports Orange County home values have dropped since the last revaluation. If there is a reval for 2013, local governments would have to raise their tax rates to keep the same amount of money coming in when they adopt spending plans later this spring.

What does that mean for you?

The countywide property tax rate would have to increase 6.6 cents per $100 of assessed property value to prevent a loss of $9.9 million in revenue, Crayton says.

In Chapel Hill, a 4.1-cent increase would be needed to stave off a $2.6 million loss.

In Carrboro, a 3.1-cent increase would be needed to avoid losing $590,000.

In Hillsborough, a 3.8-cent increase would be needed to avoid losing $280,000.

The city school district tax also would have to go up, by 1.4 cents, to avoid a $1.4 million loss, he said.

Look for Tammy's full story in Wednesday's paper.

A group of Orange County residents representing 450 homes and more than 1,000 people will ask the Orange County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night to eliminate a site at the intersection of N.C. 86 and Interstate 40 from consideration for a future solid waste transfer station.

The county has been planning to send its garbage to a transfer station in Durham when the county landfill closes next year. But recently Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton proposed the N.C. 86/I-40 site as a way to save money and give the county more control of its waste while it seeks a more environmentally friendly long-term solution. The mayor says trucking waste to Durham will cost Carrboro and Chapel Hill an extra $750,000 a year.   

In a letter to the county commissioners, opponents say a transfer station has no place in the rural buffer, an area mutually agreed upon by local governments to remain low density, without public water and sewer services.

Candidates continue to file for state and local races in Orange County this week.

Current Chapel Hill Town Council member Penny Rich filed to run for county commissioner Dist. 1 seat, challenging incumbent Pam Hemminger.

State Sen. Ellie Kinnaird filed to run for reelection.

Republican W. Lewis Hannah Jr. filed to run against Commissioner Valerie Foushee  and Republican Rod Chaney for the N.C House of Representatives Dist. 50 seat.

Republican Mary Carter filed to run against Commissioner Chairwoman Bernadette Pelissier for the at-large county commissioner seat.

Current Board of Education member Tony McKnight joined incumbent Stephen Halklotis and Lawrence Sanders to run for the Orange County Board of Education.

The Town of Chapel Hill has installed 13 new recycling bins along Franklin Street to collect cans and bottles that were previously thrown in the trash, and another four bins will be placed in Southern Village's central business area.

After some confusion on Orange County's position, plans for the light-rail line between Chapel Hill and Durham got unanimous approval this morning from a bi-county transportation committee.

Today's vote for a "Locally Preferred Alternative" route keeps the project on schedule to apply for a federal grant this year. It also moves the project along to another round of public hearings, on environmental effects, in the spring.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution on Tuesday opposing a North Carolina constitutional amendment to appear on the May 8, 2012 ballot. The ballot will offer voters the option to vote “for” or “against” a “Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."
The full text of the BOCC resolution is printed below.
 
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
 
A RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO AMENDMENT #1 THAT WILL APPEAR ON THE MAY 8, 2012 NORTH CAROLINA STATE PRIMARY BALLOT
 
 
WHEREAS, Amendment #1 will appear on the May 8, 2012 primary ballot asking voters to decide for or against a North Carolina constitutional amendment that provides that “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State”; and
WHEREAS, Orange County adopted social justice goals of which one goal is to foster a community culture that rejects oppression and inequity, thus the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color, religion or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age, military services; disability; and familial, residential, or economic status; and
WHEREAS, Orange County along with its local municipalities has adopted the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance with the purpose and policy to promote the equal treatment of all individuals; prohibits discrimination in Orange County based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, familial status, and veteran status; to protect residents’ lawful interests and their personal dignity so as to make available to the County their full productive and creative capacities, and to prevent public and domestic strife, crime, and unrest within Orange County; and
WHEREAS, Amendment #1, if approved by the voters, would prohibit marriage between people of the same gender, and further prohibit the recognition of any other form of domestic legal union; and
WHEREAS, Amendment #1, if approved by the voters, would be inconsistent with Orange County’s commitment to equal rights and opportunities for its residents and employees and would impact the County’s and its local municipalities’ domestic partner registry and benefits;
NOW, THEREFORE IT RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners re-affirms its commitment to social justice, equal rights and equal opportunity for all residents of Orange County.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners opposes the proposed Amendment #1 that will appear on the May 8, 2012 North Carolina primary ballot.
This the 24h day of January, 2012.
 

Orange County is still looking for the best short-term solution for its garbage.

And so far, there’s snags in all the possibilities.

County leaders have decided to close its landfill and possibly truck its solid waste to Durham, but Chapel Hill and Carrboro say its too expensive.

The State Board of Education will revisit nine charter school applications next month; one of those is the Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter school proposed for Orange County.

The application is a part of the "fast track" process, said Joel Medley, director of the North Carolina Office of Charter Schools. It will go to the state board for discussion in Febuary, and a decision will be made in March, he said.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools opposed the school, and sent a letter to the state board last year, pointing out what it called factual errors in the school's application.

The Orange County commissioners closed the discussion on a possible Orange County waste transfer station two years ago.

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton wants to reopen it.

Chilton has proposed keeping the Orange County Landfill on Eubanks Road operating longer and building a solid waste transfer station on the northwestern corner of the Interstate 40/N.C. 86 intersection. A transfer station is typically an enclosed warehouse where trucks bring trash to be loaded onto larger trucks for disposal in a landfill in another county or state.

The county plans to close the landfill in 2013 and truck its waste to a transfer station in Durham. But building a station here would save money, reduce pollution and give Orange County more control of its garbage as it explores longer-term options such as mass composting and waste-to-energy technologies, the mayor said.

“Thus far I have not heard any elected officials say, ‘No way,’” Chilton said in an interview. “What I have heard is they want to think about the issues.”

The governments of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Orange County are scheduled to meet Thursday, Jan. 26, to discuss solid-waste issues.

What do you think about Chilton's idea? Tell us here (with your name and town or township, please) or in a letter to the editor at editor@nando.com. We'll print your responses in a future issue of The Chapel Hil News.
 

Chapel Hill has accepted an agreement to get more money from Orange County for its library.

The council approved the agreement 6-3 with Easthom, Czajkowski and Bell dissenting.

In December, the Orange County commissioners approved the agreement, in which the county increases its contribution to the Chapel Hill library by 3 percent each year, until the allocation reaches 30 percent of the county's total library operations budget by June 20, 2015.

The county will give $342,986, up from $250,000, to Chapel Hill for its library for the next fiscal year, which is 21 percent of the county's library operating budget, according to the agreement.