Durham City Council approves budget; no property tax increase

The Durham City Council approved the $502.6 million budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year that will not increase property taxes and includes a $5 million COVID-19 response and recovery fund.

In the budget, property tax will remain at 53.17 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The total budget is a $24.8 million increase for the previous year. In a release, the city said $24 million of that increase "is due to the anticipated refinancing of debt."

The budget will also be no pay increases for city employees.

As a way to cut costs, the budget will allocate $6 million for street paving, which is down from $10 million the previous year.