Town and county budgets and tax rates, 1925–1932

The events, date by date

Every statement above comes from these dated entries in the chronology. Each links to its source.

1. September 9, 1925 Chapel Hill aldermen set a $1.35 tax rate and pass $80,000 in street improvement bonds With the town's assessed valuation up $253,555 to $2,955,555, the aldermen fixed the 1925 tax rate at $1.35, two and a half cents above the year before, and passed ordinances for $80,000 of street improvement bonds, $27,500 of sewer bonds and smaller issues for street equipment and old debts. The bonds were sold November 2 at 5 1/4 percent, below the 6 percent the town had been paying. People: John Lindsay Morehead, Edward M. Knox Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 11, 1925, p. 1
2. January 1926 Orange County's tax rate climbs to $1.34 When the 1925 county tax bills went out from the sheriff's office in January 1926, the county rate was $1.34 on $100 of valuation, up from $1.10 the year before and 90 cents in 1922. The Weekly figured a 49 percent rise in three years; with the Chapel Hill town rate of $1.35, townspeople paid $2.69. Place: Sheriff's office, Hillsborough; Orange CountySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 22, 1926, p. 1
3. by November 5, 1926 Chapel Hill sets its 1926 tax rate at $1.38 Chapel Hill's tax rate for 1926 was fixed at $1.38 per $100 of assessed value, school levy included, three cents above 1925 and four and a half cents below 1922; the county rate stayed at $1.34. The Weekly credited new building, including the Carolina Inn, for holding the rate steady and noted a re-assessment due in 1927. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Carolina InnSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 5, 1926, p. 1
4. August 8, 1927 Chapel Hill aldermen hold the town tax rate at $1.38 At their meeting of August 8 the aldermen kept the town tax rate at the previous year's $1.38 on $100 of valuation, although Town Manager Knox had expected it to rise to $1.40. The Weekly reported village assessments of $3,417,344 and warned that the county's 10 percent cut in Chapel Hill assessments would leave revenue short of the budget, while the county rate was expected to rise 19 cents to about $1.53 to clear old deficits. People: Edward M. Knox Place: Board of aldermen, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 12, 1927, p. 1
5. by August 3, 1928 Aldermen adopt a $37,272 town budget and keep the tax rate at $1.38 By August 3, 1928, the Chapel Hill aldermen approved a town budget of $37,272 for the coming year, about the same as the last, and held the tax rate at $1.38. Public works spending fell by $2,200 while public safety rose $2,600, mostly to pay full-time men at fire headquarters; the town owed $333,000 in bonds. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 3, 1928, p. 1
6. by October 5, 1928 Orange County's 1928 tax rate falls to $1.45 Figures prepared by Paul Wager for the Orange County Civic Association showed the county tax rate cut from $1.50 to $1.45, with more for the general fund and less for roads and debt service. Chapel Hill township's valuation rose by more than half a million dollars from new building, more than the whole county's gain, while most other townships fell. People: Paul W. Wager Place: Orange County (Civic Association meeting at the court house, Hillsborough)Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 12, 1928, p. 3
7. July 22, 1929 Orange County's 1929-30 budget goes to the commissioners with a tax cut of about 15 cents On July 22, 1929, the county commissioners received the 1929-30 budget prepared by county accountant G. W. Ray, including a school fund of about $177,000 and a road fund of about $50,000. New state school and highway aid worth $41,050 to Orange County let the county rate fall about 15 cents, the Weekly reported. People: Gilbert W. Ray Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 26, 1929, p. 1
8. September 9, 1929 Chapel Hill aldermen set the town and school tax rate at $1.52 Meeting on September 9, the aldermen fixed the 1929 rate at 48 cents for the schools and $1.04 for the town, 14 cents above 1928, while the county rate fell from $1.45 to $1.28. The Weekly credited part of a 19-cent drop in the school rate to the joint superintendent now shared by the Chapel Hill and Carrboro schools. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Chapel Hill and Carrboro schoolsSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 13, 1929, p. 1
9. August 13, 1930 Chapel Hill aldermen cut the town tax rate to $1.40 On August 13, 1930, the aldermen approved the budget and set Chapel Hill's 1930 tax rate at $1.40 per $100, 12 cents below 1929. The school levy stayed at 48 cents, while the town's debt service fell to 39 cents and its operating levy to 53 cents, on an estimated valuation of $3,680,000. Place: Town Hall, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 15, 1930, p. 1
10. July 1, 1931 The state takes over Orange County's roads and most of its prisoners The Connor road bill, passed on March 20, 1931, moved every public road outside town streets to state upkeep from July 1, 1931 and made the state responsible for longer-term prisoners, ending one of the county's oldest duties. County accountant G. W. Ray said the change wiped out the county's 25-cent road maintenance tax. The Gardner survey had found Orange spent $48,076 on its 412 miles of roads in 1929. People: O. Max Gardner, Gilbert W. Ray Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 208 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 22, 1931, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, May 29, 1931, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, February 26, 1932, p. 3
11. July 15, 1931 Orange County commissioners hear tax assessment appeals and grant small cuts With the hard times bringing many owners to the courthouse in Hillsboro, the county commissioners heard 133 requests for lower assessments and then inspected disputed properties themselves. They granted a total reduction of only $23,010, more than half of it ($12,967 on 59 requests) in Chapel Hill township. Place: Orange County Courthouse, HillsboroughSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 24, 1931, p. 1
12. July 27, 1931 Chapel Hill aldermen cut town employees' pay in the 1931-1932 budget Adopting the town's final budget, the aldermen cut the pay of all town employees 10 percent except the officers of the Recorder's Court, whose pay stood, and the police, where the chief went from $140 to $135 a month, the traffic officer from $125 to $115 and the night patrolman stayed at $100. Three weeks earlier they had restored the old pay scale in the tentative budget; the Weekly argued the saving to taxpayers was too slight to justify the cut. Place: Town Hall, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 31, 1931, p. 1