[Durham INC] Durham Approves Modest Tax Increase for FY 2010-2011 Budget

[Blalock, Amy]

CITY OF DURHAM

Office of Public Affairs

101 City Hall Plaza

Durham, NC 27701

 

 

News Release

 

For Details, Contact:

Beverly B. Thompson

Public Affairs Director

(919) 560-4123 x 11229

(919) 475-2362 (cell)

Beverly.Thompson at durhamnc.gov

 

For Immediate Release:  June 21, 2010

 

 

Durham Approves Modest Tax Increase for FY 2010-2011 Budget

Budget Continues Public Safety, Core Services, and Capital Improvement
Projects 

 

DURHAM, N.C. - Last night, the Durham City Council approved the Fiscal
Year 2010-2011 budget, which includes a 2.2 percent property tax rate
increase as well as a small number of other increases in various rates
and fees.

 

According to City Manager Thomas J. Bonfield, the increases continue
voter-approved bond projects and supplement Durham Area Transit
Authority (DATA).  To meet those needs, the City Council raised the tax
rate by 1.19 cents, bringing the total tax rate to 55.19 cents per $100
of assessed value.  Since the average home value in Durham is $161,700,
an increase of 1.19 cents raises the average annual tax bill by $19.24.

 

Bonfield said the property tax increase pays for the increase in
voter-approved debt service requirements resulting from the 2005 and
2007 bond referenda and other debt.  Bonfield also said that the tax
increase replaces some of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) funding for DATA received last year. Because departments saved
$3.9 million through program prioritization and the resources required,
core services are completely funded through the general fund, with no
affect on the tax rate.  

 

The budget total is $353.3 million, compared to $345.6 million for FY
2009-2010, which is an increase of $7.7 million, or 2.2 percent.  The
amount includes a general fund budget of $206 million, which funds most
core City services, and represents a $0.9 million, or a 0.4 percent
budget reduction, from the FY 2009-2010 budget of $206.9 million.  Of
this 1.19 cents increase, 0.49 cents per $100 of assessed value is
dedicated to debt service and 0.70 cents per $100 of assessed value is
dedicated to transit to replace ARRA funding.  

 

Debt service is at 13.7 percent, below the 15 percent threshold
established by the City Council in the budget development guidelines
from earlier this year.  The budget also maintains 12.5 percent of the
City's budget in fund balance reserves and includes increases in the
following fees and rates effective July 1, 2010:

*         Parking fees are increasing for hourly parking by $0.40 per
hour and for monthly parking by $10 per month (for most customers).  

 

*         Solid waste disposal tipping fee is increasing $0.50 per ton
to $42.50.  

 

*         Water and sewer rate is increasing 1.34 percent, with
single-family residences receiving a $0.53 per month service charge fee
increase.  This is the only service charge increase that is effective
August 1, 2010.

 

*         Stormwater rate is increasing 9.3 percent, with Residential
Tier 1 customers receiving an annual increase of $2.40; Residential Tier
2 customers receiving an annual increase of $5.04; and Residential Tier
3 customers receiving an annual increase of $10.08.

 

Other items funded in this budget include $182,516 to help fund the
Durham County Warrant Control Office, which covers half of the expense
for employing nine clerks.  This budget also includes $138,000 to help
fund the salaries of two employees in the Durham County Special Domestic
Violence Court.

 

Funding for neighborhood revitalization is maintained at $750,000 and
funding for deferred maintenance is maintained at $500,000.  Funding for
fleet replacement continues at $1 million, and the Street Light
Replacement Program is reinstated at $130,000.  The budget also funds
full operation of seven new facilities, including the Walltown Park
Recreation Center, the Teen Center at Old Lyon Park, Bethesda Park, and
Fire Station 15.

 

The capital improvement budget includes $50 million for new projects and
to complete existing projects.  Funding is provided through impact fees,
water and sewer revenues and revenue bonds, stormwater fees, and program
income.

 

Using the remainder of 2005 and 2007 General Obligation Bonds (GO) and
other funds, the City's Department of Public Works will continue to
resurface deteriorating streets.  Since a dedicated Street Resurfacing
Fund could not be established this fiscal year as hoped, the City
Council is asking Durham voters to approve another $20 million street
resurfacing bond this fall.  If approved by voters, the funds will
eliminate the backlog of 158 miles of streets in the worst condition.
If approved, this bond issue will be the third the City Council has put
forth to voters since 2005 and would possibly require higher property
tax rates to cover the added debt service, beginning in FY 2011-2012.
To prevent the backlog of poorly maintained streets from occurring again
in the future, City Manager Bonfield plans to building dedicated street
resurfacing funding into the City's long-range spending plans, beginning
with FY 2012-2013.  

 

Other highlights of the FY 2010-2011 Budget include:

*         Based on program prioritization, 33 positions are eliminated,
of which 17 were occupied.  To date, ten of those employees have been
placed into other positions within the organization or accepted other
employment alternatives.  Also, based on program prioritization and
needs, 20 previously frozen or new positions are now funded.

 

*         Due to limited financial resources, there are no compensation
increases for general employees, or Police and Fire employees, included
in the budget.  Bonfield's plan is to review revenues and expenditures
in January 2011 to determine if excess funding is available to provide
one-time bonuses to all employees during FY 2010-2011. 

 

*         The employee 401(k) will be funded at the 3 percent level for
general employees.  State statute requires local governments to
contribute 5 percent for sworn law enforcement officers.  In accordance
with a State mandate, the retirement rate for general employees
increased from 4.8 percent to 6.35 percent and from 5.27 percent to 6.82
percent for law enforcement officers for the Local Government Employees
Retirement. 

 

*         Health insurance premiums are limited to a 14.54 percent
increase due to the City's switch to a self-insured health plan in
September 2010.  The City also anticipates a 10.6 percent increase in
dental health costs. 

 

Copies of the approved budget are available on the City's Web site at 
www.durhamnc.gov/departments/bms.

 

###

-------------- next part --------------
HTML attachment scrubbed and removed
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3070 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20100621/896bc07a/attachment.jpeg>