Durham County Manager Claudia Hager presented a proposed $1.045 billion budget for FY 2026-27 to the Board of Commissioners Monday night, recommending a 2-cent property tax increase to cover rising costs in schools and emergency services.
The proposed countywide tax rate would climb from 55.42 cents to 57.42 cents per $100 of property value. A homeowner with a $400,000 home would pay $2,296 in county property taxes, an $80 jump from the current year. The total budget is a 0.67% increase over the current $1.04 billion budget passed last summer.
Hager said the increase became unavoidable after commercial property tax appeals eroded valuation gains that the county had counted on. Revenue that normally grows fast enough to cover rising costs without a rate hike simply did not materialize. "When slowing growth in other revenue sources compete with higher service demand, the options to fill those gaps are limited to property tax increases," she said.
The 2-cent hike adds $17 million earmarked for Durham Public Schools, pre-kindergarten programs, and emergency service expansion. That falls short of what DPS requested. In March, the school district approved a $28.5 million funding increase request that county staff said it could not meet without raising taxes, and the gap between what the schools want and what the county can provide remains a pressure point heading into final budget talks.
Residents inside Durham city limits will pay a separate citywide rate on top of the county levy. The Durham City Council will set that rate after the city manager makes a recommendation.
The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on the budget next month.