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Durham holds public hearing on FY 2025–26 budget as residents press for transit, safety and housing funding
Summary
City staff opened a public hearing on the manager''s proposed FY2025''6 budget and 2026''31 CIP; residents urged continued fare-free transit, design funding for Roxborough'Mangum safety upgrades, expanded HEART funding, and more affordable housing and park maintenance dollars. Final adoption is scheduled for June 16.
The City Council opened a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2025''6 budget and the FY2026''31 capital improvement plan on Monday evening, with budget staff reiterating the manager''s proposal and members of the public offering comments for council consideration.
City budget staff told the council the proposed property tax rate is 43.71 cents per $100 of assessed value, a decrease from the current rate of 59.62 cents but 5.48 cents higher than the revenue-neutral rate of 38.23 cents. The city manager''s proposed budget was presented May 19; the council set final adoption for Monday, June 16.
Speakers at the hearing urged the council to keep transit fare-free, to fully fund or expand the HEART nonpolice response program, and to advance safety projects on Roxborough/Mangum and Duke/Gregson. Several speakers linked the budget choices to rising local costs: Councilmember remarks during the meeting noted that Durham County''s recent revaluation showed an average 71.6% increase in values, a context residents said makes tax and fee decisions particularly burdensome for some households.
Public commenters and community organizations sought specific line items. The Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation requested a $25,000 allocation to scale workforce programs for boys and young men of color. Multiple speakers — including residents who cross Roxborough and Mangum regularly — supported funding in the CIP to complete design work on converting those streets to safer, two-way configurations; one speaker noted $2,100,000 in the proposed budget for continued design work on Roxborough/Mangum and urged the council to move the project forward. Speakers from Bike Durham and others welcomed Vision Zero funding and said Roxborough/Mangum and Duke/Gregson should be prioritized.
Several commenters, including representatives of the HEART coalition, asked the council to increase HEART''s funding beyond the current proposal (one speaker referenced $1,700,000 in the proposal) so the unarmed-response teams can answer more than 50% of eligible calls and expand toward 24-hour coverage and embed teams in Durham Public Schools. Speakers also urged continued support for fare-free GoDurham service, affordable housing tools such as the down-payment assistance and property tax relief programs, and maintaining the half-penny allocation for park and trail maintenance.
Council and staff took public comments; the hearing was then closed and returned to the council for regular business. No final votes on the budget were taken at the hearing. The council will consider final adoption of the FY2025''6 budget and the FY2026''31 CIP at the scheduled meeting on June 16.
The public hearing record captured a range of requests rather than firm council commitments; staff emphasized that the packet included supplemental data and that council members would continue deliberations before final adoption.
