County tax rate likely to hit $1

It's a number no county wants to hit.

HILLSBOROUGH -- But Orange County's budget director said Friday she didn't think she could avoid recommending at least a $1 per $100 valuation tax rate when the county presented its recommended budget. (The budget was released after The Chapel Hill News deadline. For coverage, see today's News & Observer or go to www.newsobserver.com/news/orange.)

"We're only a nickel away from being a dollar," director Donna Coffey said of the Orange County tax rate, which now stands at 95 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

Several factors are sending the tax rate up.

Nearly 70 percent of the county's general fund revenue comes from property taxes. But home sales and construction are sluggish, and budgeted taxable property is projected to grow just 2.3 percent over the current fiscal year.

With gas at nearly $4 per gallon, consumers are spending less. Orange County has collected $12.5 million in sales tax, compared with a targeted $13.5 million for this point in the year.

Changes in sales tax distribution also are hurting. The state is picking up county governments' share of Medicaid spending, Coffey said. But at the same time, it's keeping a portion of sales tax collections that used to go to counties to offset its expenses.

-- Mark Schultz, 932-2003; mark.schultz@nando.com

Neighbor wants pause in N.C. 54 projects

CHAPEL HILL -- A resident who lives off the N.C. 54 East corridor petitioned the Chapel Hill Town Council on Monday night to set a moratorium on developments proposed along that main entrance to town.

Henry Lister, who lives in Sherwood Forest off Little John Road, told the council at last week's public hearing that Woodmont, one of the several developments proposed for N.C. 54, is not a true mixed-use village as it is currently drawn. He said the current plans do not include enough housing and would not fit in with the heavily residential area.

Since several multiuse developments are being proposed for that highway -- one has recently been approved -- the council should enact a yearlong moratorium in order to buy time to allow more careful growth, especially for large-scale projects, Lister said. Mayor Kevin Foy explained that if a moratorium were to be enacted, Woodmont would not be affected because it has gone too far in the review process already. He asked the town staff to a list of other pending projects on N.C. 54.

The council continued the public hearing for Woodmont to Sept. 8, when it returns from its summer break.

-- Meiling Arounnarath, 932-2002; meiling.arounnarath@nando.com

UNC agrees to settle discrimination suit

CHAPEL HILL -- UNC has agreed to pay $200,000 to a pediatrician whose salary was reduced by 40 percent after she returned from maternity leave three years ago, according to a settlement agreement filed by the state Attorney General's Office.

Dr. Adrea Theodore sued the university last year for discrimination on the basis of sex, pregnancy and race. The lawsuit alleged that several female faculty members complained of sex discrimination in pediatrics.

Two leaders in the department were named as defendants: Dr. John T. Benjamin, who was a division chief of the department, and Dr. Alan Stiles, who was chairman of the department.

Neither Benjamin nor Stiles could be reached. A spokeswoman for UNC Health Care said officials could not comment on a personnel matter. In the settlement agreement, the university and UNC Health Care denied any unlawful conduct.

Theodore could not be reached. Her attorney, Caitlyn Fulghum, said the mediated settlement payment represented a large amount for a state agency. But Fulghum added, "You can't ever really undo the damage from something like this."

Theodore took family medical leave in December 2004 and planned to return to work in April 2005. But in a meeting with Benjamin and Stiles in 2005, the lawsuit said, Theodore was told that she would have to choose between a part-time position or a terminated contract in July.

-- Jane Stancill, 956-2464; jane.stancill@nando.com