Join Justice United to ensure that Orange County's budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year reflects our priorities to the fullest extent possible! The most pressing alert is that there is a budget amendment to delay all affordable housing funding in the Capital Investment Plan by one year. Housing funds are already far too low and too infrequent, so this delay is against our priorities. More info and talking points:

What: Turn out to prevent Affordable Housing funding delays at tonight's final County budget public hearing!
When: TONIGHT, Thursday, May 28, 7 pm
Where: Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Rd, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
* When you turn off Homestead, you will go past the first building (the Seymour Center) on your left, and you can keep going up the hill to the second parking lot and building.

*Note: Please arrive by 6:30 pm to get your Affordable Housing and Property Tax Justice signs, and be seated together. If you plan to speak, arrive as early as possible, so that you can speak earlier on the agenda. A very large group of speakers is expected, especially with the schools and the library supporters.

Talking Points

1) Do not delay the affordable housing funding in the Capital Investment Plan. The Housing Crisis is already severe, and these funds are already inadequate and only distributed every three years. An Urban Institute consultant hired by Orange County described the county's commitment to funding affordable housing as "unacceptable" and "depressing." Our housing crisis calls for increasing funds for affordable housing and doing it sooner and more often -- not delaying!

2) Prioritize support for low-income residents to help them afford any tax increases, including home repairs and the proposed property tax assistance increase. We support the Manager's budget increase for the Longtime Homeowners Assistance funds.

3) Share a story about how the housing crisis affects you or people you know.

4) Ensure that the property valuation consultant’s work leads to real change. If the County is spending $110,000 on a consultant to advise on making our property valuation more equitable and transparent, it's important to ensure real results.

5) The County needs to start valuing high-end and luxury properties fairly. Right now, undervaluing these properties is leaving money on the table. The Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition found that if the 50 properties with the highest sales from 2021-2024 had been valued simply at the value of the very same property's recent sale, that would be an additional $115 million in value. In actual tax revenue, at the tax rate for this County Manager budget version, it would have generated an additional $777,170. Those are only 50 properties -- the tip of the iceberg. Many of the pressures leading to cuts and/or tax increases would be reduced if wealthier property owners simply paid their fair share. We could fully fund libraries and schools. We should not continue Orange County's own version own welfare for the rich.

More Housing Budget info

- Here's the full list of budget amendments https://www.orangecountync.gov/budget/amendments. The amendment to delay affordable housing funds in the Capital Investment Plan by one year is amendment #CIP-B08, near the bottom. Affordable housing funds are usually $5 million every 3 years, with the next round planned for next fiscal year. It's already too little and too infrequent, so delaying it only makes a bad problem worse.)

- During a March Housing Retreat with the Commissioners, a consultant from the Urban Institute called the County Strategic Plan's goals for funding more affordable housing (10 additional funded units/year) "unacceptable" and "depressing." The consultant emphasized that truly investing in affordable housing is crucial if housing is a genuine priority. He told the Commissioners, "The best way to get affordable housing for low-income people is to either provide money for those low-income people to afford the housing through vouchers, or to build the housing for those low-income people. If that's your primary goal, you have to invest in that subsidized housing." Ultimately, if the County is serious about addressing our Housing crisis, County leadership needs to champion a plan to increase Housing subsidies well above current goals.

More info:

• Orange County's budget page: https://www.orangecountync.gov/730/Annual-Operating-Budget
• Full 26-27 draft budget here
• Manager's presentation highlighting key elements here

Budget Public Hearing and Work Session Schedule

• Tues., May 12, 7 pm: BOCC Budget Public Hearing/Work Session (Whitted Building)
• Tues., May 19, 7 pm: BOCC Business Meeting (Southern Human Services Center)
• Thurs., May 28, 7 pm: BOCC Budget Public Hearing/Work Session (Southern Human Services Center)
• Tues., June 16, 7 pm: BOCC Business Meeting to Adopt the Budget (Southern Human Services Center)

*County staff have told Justice United organizers that the first public hearing is the most important, since by May 28, the Commissioners and staff will already be closing in on any final changes, ahead of the June 4 resolution of intent to adopt the budget.