Durham, NC — Tonight the Durham Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved the budget for fiscal year 2010-2011.  The new budget, effective July 1, 2010, includes a tax increase that will help save jobs for Durham Public Schools (DPS) and increased funding for debt service.

In the new fiscal year, pass-through funding will no longer be budgeted in Durham County’s General Fund.  This change decreases the overall General Fund budget to $343.55 million.

Increased funding for DPS is the largest portion of a 3.78 cent property tax rate increase.  The property tax rate for fiscal year 2010-2011 will be 74.59 cents; 3.07 cents of the increase will support an increase to DPS’ current expense funding and 0.71 cents will support debt service for the County.

Durham County’s tax rate increase to 74.59 cents per $100 valuation means that a resident will pay $37.80 more per year in property taxes on a $100,000 home.  Therefore, a $100,000 home will yield a $745.90 property tax bill.  

The increase to DPS’ current expense funding supports 185 teaching positions that were slated for elimination.  Of those positions 12 were reduced to half time positions.  To make this funding possible the BOCC and Board of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding enabling the County to use $6,070,000 of lottery funds to support school related debt service and free an equivalent amount of property tax to support DPS’ current expense funding. 

Changes to fees issued by the county are also included in the new budget.  Increases will impact the Sheriff’s Office, City-County Planning Department, Fire Marshal’s Office, Public Health Department, Engineering Department, and General Services Department.

Fee details include:

• Sheriff’s Office:  Various fee increases such as driver/criminal history fees, out of state civil processes, fingerprinting fees.
• City-County Planning Department:  Fee increases include changes related to rezoning requests, site plans, subdivision plats, historic preservation, and architectural review.
• Fire Marshal:  Fee changes include penalties for various fire code violations. 
• Public Health:  Fee increases are related to environmental health services, immunizations, nutrition, and the dental clinic.
• Engineering’s Utility Division:  The department will increase monthly wastewater rates 8%.
• General Services:  The solid waste management fee will increase from $90 per year to $95 per year.

The new budget modifies the Warrant Control Center program by reducing four Deputy Sheriff positions.  The County and City governments will equally share the cost of nine clerical positions within the center.  

Budget highlights for fiscal year 2010-2011 include:

• DPS will receive a 6.09% increase in overall funding, and a 7.24% increase for current expense funding.
• Durham Technical Community College will receive $4,529,918, a 3% funding reduction.
• Departmental budgets were reduced an average of 1.63% to meet the targeted budget reductions for fiscal year 2010-2011. 
• County employees will not receive pay-for-performance salary increases. The County has eliminated 41.78 full time employee (FTE) non-grant supported and 14.78 grant-supported positions. The County has added 8 new positions in the General Fund and one position in the Enterprise Fund.
• Open Space Matching Grants funding suspended for the fiscal year.
• The County will provide $883,193 in funding to support 37 non-profit agencies that applied for funding.

To obtain a copy of the fiscal year 2010-2011 budget, visit the Durham County Government Web site.  For additional information about the newly adopted budget, contact Dawn D. Dudley, public information specialist for the Durham County Manager’s Office, at 919-560-0008 or via email at ddudley@durhamcountync.gov.