County plans to hold off property tax increases

It’s looking like Orange County might be able to stave off property tax increases for at least one more year.

Orange County Commissioners reviewed the county’s budget during their annual retreat Friday.

Interim county manager Michael Talbert said the board will eventually have to increase the county property tax. At 85.8 cents per $100 valuation, Orange County’s property tax is already one of the highest in the state.

Property tax growth is natural growth in tax base, said Commissioner Mark Dorosin.

“The new growth is just brand new property coming online,” Dorosin said.

Talbert said it was too early to know what kind of increase the county might be looking at in years to come.

“These are early numbers,” Talbert said. “These go off December … These will change some as we go forward.”

Faster incentives

In September, Japanese candy maker Morinaga America announced its plans to build a 20-acre candy factory in Mebane.

Steve Brantley, the county’s economic development director, said he spent months luring Morinaga executives to the county. Going forward, he said he would like a better idea of the types of incentives the county could offer companies looking to build in Orange County.

Brantley said his ability to give the Morinaga executives a quick response was a huge asset to attracting the candy maker.

“We’ve been able to make a project work, we’re hoping to do it again with this formula,” he said.

The commissioners told Brantley to move forward with his efforts to attract quality companies — companies that don’t use a lot of water, pay a living wage and provide insurance for their employees — using incentives similar to what he offered to Morinaga America.

“Every company that comes here is going to ask for incentives,” Talbert said. “We have experience with two companies so far, we do not have established policies or guidelines, but now we have informal guidelines because we’ve done it.”

Update on poverty

There are approximately 1,630

“What we hear most in the community is the need for funding for more rental assistance,” Social Services Director Nancy Coston said.

The commissioners said they would like to work with the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro to address the lack of affordable rental housing.

“I would like to do some creative thinking about how we can create rental opportunities for people,” Commissioner Barry Jacobs said.

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