[Durham INC] Revised Jan INC minutes

[Pat Carstensen]

There were a couple corrections so I am resending... Regards, pat


January Delegate Meeting of the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham

NIS Conference Room, Golden Belt

January 22, 2019



Attending the meeting were:
Neighborhoods

Braggtown – Vanessa Evans

Cross Counties – Pat Carstensen

Long Meadow – Pakis Bessias, Stevie Daniels

Morehead Hill – Rochelle Araujo

Northgate Park – Debra Hawkins

Old North Durham – John Martin

Old West Durham –Vicky Welch

Trappers Creek / Greymoss – Will Wilson

Trinity Park – Philip Azar

Tuscaloosa-Lakewood – Susan Sewell







Visitors

Lynwood D. Best – City of Durham, NIS

Annette Smith – DPR

Andre’ Vann – Sesquicentennial Honors Commission

Ryan Vincent – Durham Tax Office

Teresa Hairson – Durham Tax Office

Gineen Cargo – Durham150

Shade Shakur – Durham150





President Rochelle Araujo welcomed those present, and folks introduced themselves.

There were no adjustments to the agenda.



Ryan Vincent and Teresa Hairson gave a presentation on Revaluation (2019 Reappraisal), which is being done to figure current market value of properties in Durham County so that tax burden is distributed equitably across county.  Market value is the most probable amount that the property would go for in an open and competitive market.  New market values go into effect 1/1/19 and will be used to calculate tax bills that go out next summer.  Updated appraisals will be sent out about January 30.   Someone checked out every property over the last 2 years, making sure information is accurate about things like the number of bedrooms as accurately as one can from the street; also they are studying all the sales to determine market areas, trends, etc.  These go together to develop tables from which to get the value of properties.  Fee appraisers do things on a much smaller scale; since the Tax Office needs to do 116K properties as of 1/1/19 and can not get to look inside to figure out such details as whether it is an extended garage or not, they need to use statistical tools and some assumptions.  Homeowners should review the data on their property to make sure the description is right.  Some areas are changing in value much more than others.  Appraised rates set by Tax Office, rates are set based on budget by the governing bodies – together they make the tax bill.  There will be information session at the libraries to go over any questions about the process or the new valuation of their property; you can schedule a 15-minute session on line or by calling.  For appeals, make sure data about property is correct, make comparisons using the tools on the website, and appeal if you still disagree. Note that the amount of change, affordability of expected taxes or level of service provided are not issues that the tax office can consider, but there are programs to address affordability.  An appeal could include other valuations or market comparisons, or pictures to show that the interior condition is not as good as expected.  You must appeal by 5 PM May 3, 2019.  Their phone is 919-560-0300.



Gineen Cargo and Shade Shakur gave a presentation on Durham 150, which is a celebration of Durham’s 150th birthday, based on when Durham was incorporated by the General Assembly.  It will be a year-long event, with 4 themes: history and education, innovation and entrepreneurship, social equity and robust democracy, and arts and leisure.  The website is Durham150.org.  Opening celebration is April 13th.  Please help plan events – they would like to have at least 150 events (https://durham150.org/submit-an-event/).  There are grants for events or projects, like a mural (https://durham150.org/grants/).  Andre Vann talked about the Sesquicentennial Honors Commission which getting names of people who should be lifted up and celebrated and recommended to council for suitable ways to honor (www.durhamhonors.org).



Rochelle asked that we do something about history of various neighborhoods as part of the celebration.



There is also Bullcity150 (https://www.bullcity150.org), which has a more social equity focus.



We are transferred to the new website.



We will send a request to the Planning Department to delay the expanding housing choices hearing so the public has time to look at a stable documents and come back to talk about it.  The messing with the NPO hasn’t been scheduled but it is still a mess; Old West Durham and Tuscaloosa-Lakewood report that Planning Department asked for a meeting with them to warn us that changes in UDO may change part or all of our NPO.



There was a motion (Philip Azar) and a second (John Killeen) to hold the February meeting in the ReCity space so that delegates could see the BullCity150 exhibit and have greater context for discussion of zoning issues. No vote was taken. Rochelle and Philip agreed to look into it.



Neighborhood Reports

  *   John Schelp’s neighborhood hike will be March 30.
  *   Chesterfield Building tour is tomorrow at 6.
  *   There is a wonderful exhibit of photographs at the Nasher.















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