Open Email sent to Town Council and County Commissioners April 24, 2026
(see related post
here)
From:
John Sams <samsjl@earthlink.net>
Date: April 24, 2026 at 08:26:45 EDT
To:
hackney.high@edenton.nc.gov,
bob.kirby@chowan.nc.gov
Cc: Bob Turner <bob.turner@edenton.nc.gov>,
councilmandixon@icloud.com, Aaron Coston <aaron.coston@edenton.nc.gov>,
elton.bond@edenton.nc.gov,
craig.miller@edenton.nc.gov,
patrick.sellers@edenton.nc.gov,
larry.mclaughlin@chowan.nc.gov,
ellis.lawrence@chowan.nc.gov, Ron Cummings <roncummings47@hotmail.com>,
tony.schaffer@chowan.nc.gov,
tray.taylor@chowan.nc.gov,
chris.evans@chowan.nc.gov
Subject: Town and County Tax Rates
Chowan County Commissioners and Edenton Town Councilors,
When you are deciding what tax rate to apply to the new schedule of property evaluations, I request that you consider the information below, drawn from NCDOR figures and my tax receipts.
FY 20-21 62 (of 100) NC counties had lower tax rates than Chowan
FY 25-26 82 NC counties had lower tax rates than Chowan
According to https://www.ncdor.gov/2025-2026-county-tax-rates-finalpdf/open. Edenton’s tax rate is higher than 18 NC counties.
When you add the county rate to the town rate, Edenton citizens now pay 1.15 percent of their property’s value.
I own property on West Queen Street, a $150,000 house where my mother lived before her death and which I now rent out:
2020 ` Town Taxes Paid: $426
2025 “ “ “ $695. 63% increase
2020 County Taxes Paid: $804
2025 “ “ “ $1061 32% increase
Total Property taxes Paid in 2020: $1230
Total. “ “ “ 2025: $1756 43 % increase
This works out to be a $100 per year increase. A full 1.5 months of rent is needed to cover the annual property tax bill, before insurance expense, maintenance and repairs are considered. Our renter works at the Chowan ABC store, which will hopefully increase his pay to compensate for rent inflation due to tax increases. There would be no need to raise his rent had taxes not gone up this much. Achieving affordable housing requires local government to be a full partner.
My suggestion is that you consciously try to spend less instead of starting your tax rate calculations with an automatic tax “neutral” rate that assumes you will spend at least what you did the previous year. A ‘zero based budget’ is one method to do this.
According to the Albemarle Observer the average property tax rate for NC counties is 58 cents per hundred (Chowan is now 69.5). Commissioners, why not aim to be below average where county tax rates are concerned rather than keep Chowan in the top 20%? I urge you to have your staff provide to you a report that shows which county budget items have exceeded the inflation rate over the past 5 years, then determine the cost/benefit ratios to retiree-homeowners and other citizens on fixed incomes. Please see: robinsams.com/tax rate.htm Consider the fact that Edenton residents pay for two local governments.
Town Councilors, request you work toward the goal of a tax burden no higher than the rate of inflation rather than repeating the 63% hike my Queen Street property has experienced over the last five years. Consider the fact that Edenton residents pay for two local governments.
Cordially,
John Sams, Edenton
.