Durham County’s proposed budget may surprise homeowners, disappoint schools
For the first time in four years, Durham County residents may escape a property tax increase in the next fiscal year.
Durham County Manager Kimberly J. Sowell presented her nearly $800 million recommended budget to the board of commissioners Monday. Among her priorities, she said, were pay increases for county employees, more funding for Durham Public Schools, funding new full-time positions, and investing in county-wide maternal health initiatives.
Sowell’s recommended budget is $794.6 million, a 7.97% increase from last year’s budget, or $58.6 million more.
About $6.5 million of the revenue for the budget is coming from the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act, also known as ARPA.
In a media briefing Monday afternoon, Sowell said the hottest topic in the budget likely will be school funding.
The Durham Public Schools board requested a $12.9 million increase in county funding for the school system’s 2022-23 budget.
The county recommended a $9.88 million increase for a total of $176 million in funding. That’s about $3 million less than the school board requested, but represents a 5.94% increase from the previous year.
This is Sowell’s first budget for Durham County since she was hired in March. She previously served as assistant city manager in Greensboro.
Both neighboring Orange and Wake counties’ recommended budgets propose increases in their respective property tax rates for the coming fiscal year.
No property tax increase, yet
Citing natural growth from last year’s property and sales tax — an estimated $38 million in revenue for the county — Sowell is recommending no property tax increases in the next fiscal year.
The current rate, set last year, is 72.22 cents per $100 of assessed value, The News & Observer previously reported. That means that for Durham County’s median house value of $400,000, the county property tax bill will be about $2,889 per year.
In her presentation, Sowell said that there may be an increase in the 2023-24 fiscal year if a $550 million General Obligation bond referendum is passed.
County employee raises
The recommended budget includes $11.8 million in pay increases for county employees from a cost-of-living adjustment ranging between 2.5% and 3.5%; $2.8 million in merit and longevity pay; and another $2.8 in salary adjustments for public safety officials.
If the budget is passed, employees would receive longevity pay. Employees who have worked for the county five years or less would receive an additional $800; those who work five to 10 years would earn $1,000; between 10 and 15 would earn up to $1,200; and employees who have worked more than 15 years would get up to $1,400.
The compensation support funds also includes bonuses and incentives for 350 positions the county has struggled to fill, totaling $1.75 million. Twenty percent of the county’s positions are currently vacant.
New positions added
While hard to fulfill every department’s needs, Sowell said the recommended budget would allow the county to hire about 40 new full-time employees.
This would include positions in the district attorney and public defender’s offices, the register of deeds, and environmental positions for the county’s renewable energy and stormwater and erosion control plans.
Other positions are in the finance and human resource departments and in the county manager’s office.
Following the county’s budget retreat in February, Sowell said a key takeaway was to increase investments in maternal health, especially for women of color and their children. The recommended budget includes about $266,000 in funding for services, resources and a new maternal health nurse and lactation specialist for the county health department, plus other funding towards nursing positions.
Durham Public Schools budget
School district leaders told the county board in March that more money is needed to fund a new $6,500 teacher salary supplement, The News & Observer previously reported.
The county’s $9.88 million increase accounts for $4 million to support teacher supplement expansion, about $2 million in retirement and health insurance increases, and $1 million for bus driver, certified and classified worker pay increases.
Other education-related funding in the county’s recommended budget includes $880,000 in pre-kindergarten expansion dollars, raising the total annual funding of $6.4 million.
Public hearing dates
Two budget work sessions will be held May 17 and 19.
The county will hold a public hearing session for the budget on May 23 at 7 p.m.
Additional budget work sessions will be scheduled June 2, 6 and 8, if needed.
The budget is scheduled to be approved June 13.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 10:12 PM.
