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Business Meeting

Orange County · Board of County Commissioners
Thursday, July 9, 2026

Regular meeting Health and human servicesAppointments and personnelTax rate and revaluationBonds and debtCivil rights and nondiscriminationContracts and procurementEthics and transparencyHousing and affordabilityParks and recreationPublic facilitiesBudget and appropriationsDrugs and addictionElections and districtsGrants and outside fundingIntergovernmental agreementsLand conversion and large developmentStormwater and floodingSubdivision and site plansTransit

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved 6.bFinal Financing Resolution: 2026B Installment Purchase Financing, Crisis Diversion Center Adopted unanimously.
  2. Approved 6.cOversight Responsibilities for the Orange County Tax Administrator Approved unanimously on a Pitt County model: the annual evaluation is the board's with the manager's input, the work plan is the manager's with the board's input, and day-to-day s…
  3. Approved 6.eSolicitation of Offers to Purchase — 6823 Millhouse Road Approved 4-1. Portie-Ascott opposed, saying the county has a practice of selling land well below market value. Another commissioner noted the board can stop negotiations at any po…
  4. Approved 11.aBoard of Health — Appointment Approved unanimously.
  5. Approved 11.bUpdating BOCC Boards and Commissions Assignments for 2026 Approved unanimously.

Another 1 item passed on the consent agenda, which is a single motion covering routine business. See the list.

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

The board's first meeting after the death of its chair, Jamezetta Bedford. Vice-Chair Jean Hamilton chairs; the seat is filled by appointment later in the month. The regular agenda carries four substantial items: changes to the longtime homeowner assistance programme, up to $27 million in financing for a crisis diversion centre, how the tax administrator should report to the board, and whether to solicit offers on a piece of county land. The published agenda packet is larger than this site's document relay will pass through; this reading is taken from the approved minutes.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Two decisions will change who gets help with a tax bill and who runs the tax office.

The longtime homeowner assistance programme, which discounts or rebates property tax for low-income owners and has just finished its fifth year, is being retargeted. Eligibility rises from five years of ownership to ten, and a new component directs assistance to owners who are 70 or older, earn 30 percent of area median income or less, and have lived in their homes twenty years or more. Staff will build a formula to phase out or grandfather earlier applicants, with only returning households of six years or more still eligible in the five-to-nine year range. Commissioners asked that the website say plainly that the shorter tenure band is being phased out. It passed unanimously.

The tax administrator question is about where a department head's loyalty sits. The board settled on a model used by Pitt County, with the post reporting jointly to the board and the county manager, day-to-day supervision from the manager, and the board conducting the annual performance evaluation. One commissioner argued against going further, and his reasoning is worth recording: he does not have time to learn every nuance of the tax department, would not be qualified to evaluate someone he sees a few times a year, has watched department heads forced out over clashes with commissioners, and expects political pressure on a future board to weigh more than any real assessment of the office. The county attorney confirmed the tax administrator is currently a county employee under the personnel ordinance, unlike the three officers the board appoints directly. The motion passed unanimously.

The board also adopted the final financing resolution for up to $27 million of installment purchase financing to build the crisis diversion centre - the behavioural health facility that came up repeatedly through 2025 as the thing opioid settlement money could not pay for.

The one split vote authorised staff to publish a solicitation for offers on county land, take proposals and negotiate terms. It passed 4-1. The commissioner who voted no said the county has a practice of selling land well below market value and she is perplexed by it. Another said he would move forward because negotiations can be stopped at any time and he sees the recreational value of the use. A member asked to see the appraisal before anything is finalised, and the chair pointed out those are not alternatives - the board can solicit and still look at the appraisal.

How the votes went

Ten votes, nine unanimous. The exception was authorising a solicitation of offers on county land, which passed 4-1 with Commissioner Portie-Ascott against on the grounds that the county sells land below market value.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

1 member of the public spoke.

  1. A lifelong Orange County resident described a property tax error she uncovered during an appeal: her family had been taxed on a half-acre it did not own since 1969, and on a further acre since 1952. She argued the five-year limit on back-collection is unfair and gives the county no incentive to correct long-standing errors. She said her father, who could not read, worked several jobs to keep the l…

One speaker, on a property tax error going back to 1952 and the five-year limit on how far back the county will make it right.

Read from the records the government published after the meeting. Members of the public are private residents and are not named or indexed.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (9)

Procedural · 2Staff or committee report · 1Proclamation or recognition · 1Budget action · 1Resolution · 1Personnel · 1Contract or award · 1Consent agenda · 1
  1. 2 Public Comment
    Procedural Civil rights and nondiscriminationTax rate and revaluation
    Public comment.
    One resident spoke, on a property tax error she said had run since 1969 on a half-acre and since 1952 on a further acre. She argued the five-year limit on back-collection removes any incentive to correct longstanding errors.
  2. 6.d Longtime Homeowner Assistance Program — Alterations to Threshold and Targeting
    Procedural Civil rights and nondiscriminationHealth and human servicesHousing and affordabilityTax rate and revaluation
    Changes to the Longtime Homeowner Assistance program, which discounts or rebates property tax for low-income owners. Now in its fifth year.
    Approved unanimously: eligibility widened to ten years of ownership, with a new component for owners aged 70 or over at 30% of area median income or below who have been in their home twenty years. Staff will design a phase-out for previous applicants.
  3. 6.b Final Financing Resolution: 2026B Installment Purchase Financing, Crisis Diversion Center
    Staff or committee report Bonds and debtHealth and human servicesPublic facilities
    Final financing resolution for the Crisis Diversion Center, authorizing up to $27,000,000 in 2026B installment purchase financing to pay for its construction.
    Adopted unanimously.
  4. 6.a Discussion on Process for Board of Commissioners Vacancy
    Proclamation or recognition Appointments and personnelElections and districts
    How to fill the seat left by Commissioner Jamezetta Bedford, who died on 21 June. State law requires a nominee from the same party and district, consultation with the party, and an appointment within sixty days — a deadline of 20 August. Miss it and the Clerk of Superior Court fills the seat instead.
    Discussed. The board weighed running the evaluation itself against using the county Democratic party's process.
  5. 6.c Oversight Responsibilities for the Orange County Tax Administrator
    Budget action Appointments and personnelHealth and human servicesHousing and affordabilityTax rate and revaluation
    Who supervises the county tax administrator. Staff laid out five models, from the board taking full day-to-day oversight to leaving it entirely with the county manager. One commissioner argued against board supervision, saying he had seen department heads forced out over clashes with commissioners and expected political pressure to outweigh performance.
    Approved unanimously on a Pitt County model: the annual evaluation is the board's with the manager's input, the work plan is the manager's with the board's input, and day-to-day supervision stays with the manager.
  6. 6.e Solicitation of Offers to Purchase — 6823 Millhouse Road
    Resolution Bonds and debtDrugs and addictionHealth and human servicesLand conversion and large developmentParks and recreationPublic facilities
    Whether to solicit offers to buy county land at 6823 Millhouse Road.
    Approved 4-1. Portie-Ascott opposed, saying the county has a practice of selling land well below market value. Another commissioner noted the board can stop negotiations at any point, and a member asked to see the appraisal before anything is finalized.
    • 6823 Millhouse Rd · no matching parcel on file
  7. 11.a Board of Health — Appointment
    Personnel Appointments and personnelEthics and transparencyHealth and human servicesTax rate and revaluation
    Appointment to the Board of Health. An optometrist seat, vacant since January 2026, stays open.
    Approved unanimously.
  8. 11.b Updating BOCC Boards and Commissions Assignments for 2026
    Contract or award Appointments and personnelContracts and procurementEthics and transparencyParks and recreation
    Updating commissioners' assignments to boards and commissions for the rest of 2026, which the vacancy forced.
    Approved unanimously.

Other recent meetings of this board