Public weighs in on Durham budget: calls to keep festivals funding, expand HEART, retain fare‑free transit and fund eviction prevention

Durham City Hall opened a public hearing on March 17 to gather community comment on the city manager’s development of the FY 2025–26 operating budget and the FY 2026–31 capital improvement plan (CIP). Budget staff reminded the public of the schedule: city manager’s proposed budget will be presented May 19, a second public hearing is set for June 2, and final adoption is scheduled for June 16.

Speakers represented a range of priorities. Common themes included: continuing and expanding social‑service and cultural funding; public‑safety alternatives; and transportation, parks and housing investments.

Festival and cultural funding: Multiple speakers from the Durham Cultural Advisory Board, festival organizers and arts advocates asked the council to maintain the recently increased festival and events fund at $400,000 for the coming year. Testimony cited economic impact metrics, applications growth and the role of festivals in building Durham’s cultural identity and tourism economy.

Transit and HEART: Several nonprofit and transit advocates urged continued fare‑free GoDurham service; the Transit Equity Campaign asked the city to seek $1.5 million from Durham County’s transit tax to sustain fare‑free service. Dozens of speakers asked the council to fully fund expansion of HEART, the city’s unarmed community response and care navigation program, to operate 24/7 and to extend services into schools. Speakers argued that HEART reduces reliance on armed police responses and addresses mental‑health and social‑service needs.

Eviction prevention and housing: Legal aid, faith‑based volunteers and housing advocates urged continued and expanded funding for eviction diversion, emergency rental assistance, and homelessness prevention. Speakers testified that preventing evictions is both a public‑health and public‑safety priority and that legal representation and diversion dollars reduce homelessness and long‑term costs.

Living wage and city workforce: Representatives of the municipal workers’ union and several city employees urged revising the living‑wage calculation so it uses a more current housing‑cost window; they said that change would yield a higher living wage (testimony cited a $24.54 figure for a recalculated living wage) and could materially improve city employees’ economic stability.

Parks, trails and pools: The Durham Parks Foundation and residents asked the council to keep the half‑penny parks allocation at its current level and to fund maintenance and deferred repairs across park sites, citing public‑health and equity concerns. Other speakers requested funding for lead remediation work and noted existing investments tied to watershed protection.

Streets and Vision Zero: Several speakers and safety advocates asked the council to fully fund the Vision Zero action plan, including two‑way conversions and design improvements on roads identified as high‑injury corridors (Roxborough, Mangum, Duke and Gregson were repeatedly cited) and to prioritize pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

Public testimony closed at the end of the hearing. No budget votes were taken at the hearing; the city manager and budget staff will compile comments and include them in the proposed budget materials in May. Budget staff opened the meeting by noting that a revaluation year will affect tax‑rate calculations and that a revenue‑neutral rate will be calculated before the manager’s proposed budget is released.