Commissioner Vernon Bryant, who at the beginning of the meeting asked to be recused of voting, was the sole opponent to the measure, which Commissioner Rives Manning cast the motion to approve. Commissioner Marcelle Smith cast the second.

Bryant asked to abstain from voting because as a real estate agent he brokered deals to buy property in the community during the time land was being bought as a potential investment for the Carolina Crossroads Music and Entertainment District which Roanoke Rapids created in 2005.

Commissioners voted to deny Bryant the opportunity to abstain on the matter.

County Attorney M. Glynn Rollins Jr., using case law and statutes, refuted claims of the center that the high taxes the residents of Brandy Creek were assessed during their time in the city limits were a result of discrimination — not racially motivated discrimination but discrimination based on assessments in other areas of the city — or a violation of the state Constitution as well as being illegal.

Rollins said that from 2007 to 2009 none of the 19 residents who were seeking refunds came before the board of equalization and review to challenge their high property taxes.

Rollins conceded that the revaluation used to set the assessments was done factoring in the sale of 32 lots in the community for a total of $2.8 million, about $89,000 per lot.

It wasn't until 2010 that the county tax office received letters from 19 residents asking for the refunds.

The tax office looked at the entire subdivision, Rollins told the board, and determined the values should be reduced.

The tax office based its decision on the economy and the fact, “The (then Randy Parton) theatre was not thriving. It just wasn't thriving. That's what led to the initial evaluation being so high,” he said.

Errors in judgement, Rollins said case law shows, does not mean an assessment is discriminatory. At the time, the tax office acted properly when it based the assessment on the recent sales. “Through 2007 the lots continued to sell at considerable prices.”

Some lots sold for as little as $89,000 to one as high as $350,000. “You may disagree with the judgement of an assessor but it doesn't mean it was discriminatory.”

Commissioner Rives Manning, after Rollins recommended the refunds be denied, said, “I'm voting to abide by the law.”
Board Chair James Pierce said, “I would hope that would be the consensus of the board.”

Following the vote, Mark Dorosin, an attorney with the center, said the statute does provide a mechanism for filing suit in superior court. “That will be a decision the residents will have to make.”

Several of the residents said following the vote they would be willing to file a lawsuit.

Roanoke Rapids has yet to make a decision on what it will do.