I have been completely frustrated by the reassessment in Orange County. The whole process is so murky with people on a board telling us what our property is worth.

My husband and I purchased our house in June 2008 for $412,500. As of Jan. 1, 2009, our house was assessed at $446,500. According to articles in the Chapel Hill News and on the assessor's Web site, all houses are assessed at their market value. By definition, all houses that were bought or sold within the last year should have had their house assessed at the purchase price. The sale of our house was not a distressed sale. The seller hired a real estate agent, put the house on the market and showed it to various buyers. Yet, the assessors office is operating under the belief that our house is worth $34,000 more than what we purchased it at.

I have called the assessor's office. Nobody will explain the process. I have sent in two requests to appeal my assessment, only to be told the first request got lost in the mail and the second has not been processed yet. I have been told that the appeals will take all the way until December, but the tax bills are being sent out in September. Will Chapel HIll and Orange County send us a refund check if we pay our tax bill and our assessment is eventually lowered? How long will that take? It seems like government is working to hold our money longer and longer.

Kulwadee Yung

Chapel Hill

No one has given more to wildlife

It really hurt my heart to read the letter criticizing Bobby Schopler's column about the fawn (CHN July 29). I'm sure Ms. Cutson's critique extremely hurt his feelings, and I appreciate the Chapel Hill News giving him the lengthy space to defend himself because, if anyone deserves it, he does.

Dr. Schopler justly defended his medical treatment of the fawn and the situation of the Piedmont Wildlife Center. But he is not the type to defend his honor. So that's where I come in. Many years ago when the old Animal Protection Society decided his wildlife work, while in their employment, was not cost worthy enough, they let him go. With great vision, he singlehandedly created the Piedmont Wildlife Center. My guess is he has given more heart and soul to wildlife the last 20 years than any single individual in the Triangle.

Anyone who knows Bobby Schopler knows he has given countless hours of uncompensated, dedicated veterinary medicine to creatures that everyone else pushed aside to let die wherever. He changed all that or at least some of it locally with his great dedication. It's a shame we can't fund the center's clinic with some of our wasted taxes because now more wildlife will suffer.

Let me know if there is someone else locally who has given more to wildlife than Bobby has. I don't know of anyone. But questioning Bobby Schopler's dedication and skills should be left only to one spirit and it/he/she is not on this earth.

Ken Redman

Chapel Hill

Let's make Varsity tax-exempt nonprofit

The loss of the Varsity theater is a big blow to Chapel Hill, especially as new development is set to bring new inhabitants downtown. I know the conventional wisdom is that as lamentable as the loss of the Varsity might be, we should leave these things to market forces. I would like to suggest that there is another way to keep a quality movie theater in the location that was occupied by the Varsity. A movie theater downtown could be supported as a tax exempt nonprofit. Columbia, S.C., has such an entity called the Nickelodeon Theater (http://www.nickelodeon.org/)

The idea is that people can sign up for memberships and in exchange for their memberships they could get some sort of minor price reductions on tickets, like the Nickelodeon does in South Carolina. This entity would also be free to go after bigger donations from individuals and businesses. Of course the theater would also serve non-members.

The problem with this idea is developing a group to spearhead it. Why not the Chapel Hill Town Government? Lately, the town government has put a lot of energy into downtown development so why should they drop the ball on something as big as this? Why should the local government sit back and watch our only downtown theater be converted into some chain clothing store or sandwich shop? If the Town Council took the initiative to get the process going, I am sure leaders from the community would emerge.

Greg Gangi

Chapel Hill

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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