Durham's proposed budget will not increase property tax, but adds COVID-19 fund

Durham city manager Tom Bonfield's new proposed budged for the 2020-21 fiscal year will not increase property taxes but includes a $5 million COVID-19 response and recovery fund.

There will also be no pay increases for city employees.

“We don’t yet know the full depth, breadth, and duration of the impacts of COVID-19 on our community, but we can anticipate that the City will likely need to provide additional resources to support small and disadvantaged business, community non-profits, families, and to cover increased costs associated with sanitation and space modifications in City facilities,” Bonfield said.

The total for the proposed budget is $504.3 million, which is a $26.5 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."

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

As a way to cut costs, the proposed budget will allocate $6 million for street paving, which is down from $10 million the previous year, but Bonfield does not anticipate funding in that area will remain that low in future years.

Final approval for the budget is set for June 15.