What Durham County’s $1 billion proposed budget with tax rate increase would prioritize in 2026-2027

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — Durham County residents are in for a two-cent tax rate increase in the next fiscal year, if the proposed budget unveiled Monday night gets final approval in June.

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At the regular meeting of the Durham County Commissioners on Monday, Durham County Manager Claudia Hager made the presentation of the budget, totaling $1,045,423,704. This final price tag reflects a $7 million increase from the prior year.

With a two-cent hike, that would bring the county-wide tax rate to 57.42 cents per $100 valuation.

According to Hager, the focal areas with this budget were education, public safety and maintaining core services. Here’s a closer look at how that breaks down in taxpayer dollars.

Education: Millions more allocated to public schools

Looking at the budget as a whole, more than one-fifth (22.5%) is earmarked for Durham Public Schools. With a total investment of $235 million, this would mark the sixth consecutive year the commissioners have increased school funding by more than $10 million.

“The local per pupil expenditure increases to $5,929, up $368 per pupil, keeping DPS as one of the top five locally funded school systems in the state,” a release from the city on the budget said Monday.

In addition to DPS, the education investments of the proposed budget also includes:

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• $12,997,305 Durham Technical Community College, a year-over-year increase of 3%.
• $10.2 million in pre-K expansion funds, representing a $1.27 million increase of additional support
• For personnel: $3.6 million in compensation increases and $1.6 million in insurance

Public Safety: Fleet upgrades & more positions

Emergency Services are also being bolstered in a big way, with the proposed budget calling for not only more equipment, but more of the people it takes to help serve the growing population of Durham County.

In Emergency Services, the budget makes room for 10 added paramedic positions at a total cost of $1.23 million. Also needed are one new ambulance and six replacement vehicles in order to retire five ambulances and one SUV from the fleet.

For the Sheriff’s Office, the budget adds funding to hire five new law enforcement officers for better county coverage. The DCSO is also in need of 39 total vehicle replacements — one motorcycle and the rest typical units.

Across all expenditures in the proposed budget for new and replacement vehicles, the city said it would spend around $6.8 million.

Where to learn more, give feedback

This webpage on the Durham County website is the place to go for more details and line-item searching. You’ll find the comprehensive, 243-page budget there, as well as more concise overviews and the presentation made to the commissioners on Monday.

For those wanting a voice in the process, the place to start is the FY 2026-27 Durham County Resident Budget Survey. In it, all Durham County residents are invited to rank the 16 key priorities of the budget in order of most to least important. Residents will also have the option to give additional comments or suggestions for items that should be considered top priorities.

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