INC NEWS - County plan has 2.9-cent property tax increase (H-S)

[Newman Aguiar]

County plan has 2.9-cent property tax increase

By Mindy B. Hagen, The Herald-Sun
May 23, 2005   10:47 pm 

DURHAM -- County Manager Mike Ruffin proposed a 2.9-cent property tax
increase Monday to help fund new initiatives in his $528.1 million general
fund budget, such as a $1 million salary boost for county employees, two new
judicial system programs and money for 30 nonprofit organizations. 

The proposed tax hike represents a 3.6-percent increase and would translate
into an additional $43.50 on the tax bill for the owner of a home assessed
at $150,000. 

Ruffin said he's aware the increase may hurt some property owners. 

"I do not say that lightly," he said, when informing County Commissioners
about the proposed tax increase at a meeting Monday night. "To a lot of
people in our county, that's an awful lot of money." 

Ruffin said he doesn't want to burden homeowners, but emphasized the county
has only two major sources of revenue -- sales taxes and property taxes --
to finance county services. But since the county has no authority to raise
sales taxes, a property tax increase is the only option to increase revenue.


"Homeowners are just getting pelted, and I feel for them," Ruffin said. "I
hope that sometime soon we can see relief from other sources of income. But
now, the property tax is the only real source of income over which we have
control." 

Commissioner Lewis Cheek said he feels the tax increase would be
"reasonable," especially with the lack of available outside resources. 

"It's unfortunate, but I think it's necessary," Cheek said. "But we still
have a long way to go before we get a final budget." 

The county's budget process is just beginning, and commissioners have
scheduled a series of work sessions in the coming weeks to look over
Ruffin's proposal before a public hearing on June 13 and the budget's final
approval on June 27. The county's fiscal year begins July 1. 

County Commissioners Chairwoman Ellen Reckhow promised that commissioners
would take their time in reading through Ruffin's proposal. 

"We will give this a lot of attention over the next few weeks," Reckhow
said. "But we do have a number of pressures on our budget, and no new
revenue sources from the General Assembly." 

In past months, Ruffin and the commissioners have identified raising the
salaries of county employees as one of their top priorities, saying that
county salaries for all positions are an average of 12.4 percent below the
market rate. Ruffin's budget recommendation calls for $1 million in funding
to start closing that gap based on results from a consultant's report to be
reviewed by commissioners later this summer. 

In addition to $4.4 million in additional funding for the Durham Public
Schools, the budget also allocates money for two new judicial programs: 

n A pretrial services program costing $235,951 would be created to help
reduce the county's jail population and make sure magistrates and judges
have up-to-date information during bond hearings. 

n A fingerprinting program would cost $159,209 to pay for five employees and
the physical facility to fingerprint any citizen booked with a misdemeanor
charge at the Durham County Jail. 

Ruffin said 67 percent of people booked at the jail are charged with
misdemeanors -- and it would be helpful for solving crimes in the future to
maintain a database of these offenders. 

Misdemeanors include many types of property, violent and sexual offenses.
Examples include indecent exposure, shoplifting, breaking and entering,
driving while impaired, disorderly conduct, vandalism, larceny from a motor
vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and several types of assault. 

Barker French, who chairs the Durham Roundtable's committee on crime, said
he hopes the commissioners will support both judicial programs. 

"I am very pleased that the manager agrees these are high priority items,"
French said, adding that the pretrial services could identify people who
don't need to be held in jail while awaiting trial, which could help lessen
the jail population and end up saving the county money. 

The budget also calls for spending more than $1 million to fund 30 nonprofit
organizations, including six new applicants. Also, Ruffin's recommendation
would add 58 new employees to the county payroll, which would increase the
total county work force to 1,803 positions -- 160 fewer positions than in
2001. 

Since commissioners only got their first look at the budget proposal Monday
night, some said they needed more time before commenting on specific
programs. 

"I need more time to look it over," Commissioner Phil Cousin said. "I've got
some questions. It's going to be interesting to see what the community
feedback will be in looking at the judicial program funding versus the
schools funding." 

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