Durham’s budget passes at fiery meeting. What each City Council member had to say.
In a divided vote Tuesday night, the Durham City Council passed a $610 million budget, its largest ever.
Here’s what the historic budget does:
- Expands the HEART program: Unarmed specialists will soon be able to respond to certain 911 calls citywide 12 hours a day. The city will add 27 new hires.
- Pay raises, but is it enough? All city employees get a 2% pay bump, and police and fire workers get an additional 5% on average. It’s not what firefighters asked for, however, which severely divided the council. More on that later.
- Fayetteville Street upgrades: $10 million is going to help revitalize real estate, business and the appearance of the corridor, which runs through historic Hayti.
- Fare-free buses: City buses will remain fare-free through June 30, 2024.
- Vision Zero coordinator: A coordinator will be hired to work on eliminating local traffic fatalities. (The city’s former budget director, John Allore, was fatally struck while bike riding in Orange County March.)
How the budget will affect tax bills
City taxes won’t go up with the 7% larger budget, though property taxes are rising next year.
- The city tax rate remains at 55.77 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
- The county upped its tax rate by 3 cents to 75.22 cents.
- On a median home inside the city limits, valued at $244,539, the total annual tax bill amounts to $3,203.
- On a $400,000 house — the median at which Durham County homes are being sold this year — tax bills will total $5,239.
It was a turbulent night in City Hall, with the budget vote split 4-3.
Here’s how each member of the City Council voted — and what they had to say.
Mayor Elaine O’Neal
O’Neal started off with a bang.
Before the budget came up, she looked out at the couple of dozen blue T-shirt clad firefighters in the audience.
“I am interested in entertaining a motion for a raise for them before we even get out of the gate tonight,” O’Neal said.
Firefighters have been angling for higher pay and to be given step-plan promotions skipped during the COVID-19 pandemic. They say they can’t live in the city without taking on other jobs.
In this budget, the city had included money for a pay study, but no step-plan reclassifications. O’Neal’s proposal would have cost $8 million.
“They have waited long enough, and I believe that they have a right to know who will or will not support them on a raise,” she said.
The motion failed, with the only other support coming from council members DeDreana Freeman and Monique Holsey-Hyman.
“I think they needed to know. Straight up,” O’Neal told The News & Observer when asked about the strategy after the meeting. “Sometimes, you can just make it simple.”
Later, when the full budget came to a vote, a fire engine wailed by in the night as O’Neal began her final comments.
“I support this budget, but for that one thing,” she said. “I’m sorry that we couldn’t do it tonight, but I’m going to keep pushing.”
What she liked: Everything else
How she voted: No.
Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton
Middleton said he thought the mayor’s motion at the start of the meeting was “posturing.”
He said a 5-cent-tax-rate increase — between the city and county — would be irresponsible.
“When the manager first proposed her budget as balanced, everyone applauded it,” Middleton said. “None of us put this on our list when we proposed our items (in January).”
What he liked: No tax increase, money for the Fayetteville Street corridor, Vision Zero coordinator, sidewalk improvements, guaranteed income program
How he voted: Yes.
Jillian Johnson
Johnson said while she would support a tax increase to boost pay, there’d have to be a better plan in place. She wants to see the results of the pay study.
“Taxes in this community are really low. I will absolutely vote for a tax increase to support city services,” she said.
But doing that in the midst of a housing crisis was tricky. “That is a hard thing to sell to a community that’s already struggling,” she said.
She said she is willing to backdate raises recommended in the pay study.
What she liked: HEART expansion
How she voted: Yes.
DeDreana Freeman
Freeman’s voice broke when she began speaking.
“It’s so disrespectful to sit on this dais and call the mayor irresponsible,” she said. “This budget was guided by two council members and their puppets, if I’m to be honest. The city manager has her hands tied.”
She said gathering public comment felt pointless.
“This budget was done in January. When it came to us in May, it was clearly stated there would be no changes,” Freeman said. “Everything is happening behind the scenes, and it’s nonsense.”
Freeman said they could easily expand the program that gives property tax breaks to low-income homeowners
“I don’t want to hear this crap about how raising taxes is going to displace people,” she said. “That is not a problem. I am not concerned at all.”
What she liked: Money for Fayetteville Street corridor
How she voted: No.
Javiera Caballero
Caballero said the pay increases will likely need to be spread over the next two years.
“The next council, we’re going to have to make some seriously hard choices,” she said. “All of us asked for things, good things, and that’s what’s in this budget.”
She said she didn’t have a problem raising taxes, but she refused to sneak it in 10 days before the fiscal year starts.
“What I’m not going to tell the public we’re not going to raise your taxes at the beginning of May and then two weeks later, tell them, oh we’re actually going to,” Caballero said.
What she liked: HEART expansion, Vision Zero coordinator
How she voted: Yes.
Leonardo Williams
Williams said it’s frustrating to see the pay issue reduced to a binary of supporting firefighters or not.
“We can’t just swipe our credit card and say all right, oh well,” he said.
He said he’s perplexed that those who support the tax increase also consistently vote to limit building and annexations, which would increase property taxes coming into the city.
“People have to move here,” Williams said. “You can’t be for restricting the tax base but for increasing taxes and expect the people already here to be OK.”
What he liked: Giving raises, not raising taxes
How he voted: Yes.
Monique Holsey-Hyman
Holsey-Hyman said it was heartbreaking to hear city employees can’t afford to live in Durham.
“This is kind of bittersweet for me because I honestly do like a lot of the things that are in this budget,” Holsey-Hyman said.
“I don’t see how we can sit up here and see how these people are suffering day-to-day, putting their life on the line, and we’re just OK with it,” she continued.
What she liked: HEART program expansion, money for Fayetteville Street corridor
How she voted: No.
This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Durham’s budget passes at fiery meeting. What each City Council member had to say.."
