Durham's Budget: Tough Year Ahead

0:00Reporting from the Daily News now, I'm Corey with the story with the latest in Durham. Durham's City Council kicked off the 2026 27-budget process this week. Officials are warning residents to prepare for a tough year ahead due to rising living costs, cuts in federal funding for social programs and the end, of leftover pandemic relief money from 2021. The challenges come amid broader economic pressures affecting the whole country. Last year, the Council approved a $772 million budget that included a property tax rate of 43 cents and $7,100 per $100 of assessed value. That funded employee raises, bus services, traffic safety efforts, and 42 new staff positions. At the first public hearing on Monday, residents share their priorities. Many call for more focus on affordable housing, where average rents have jumped over 50% in five years. Firefighters push for a 5% base pay boost to keep up with growing demand and long shifts,

1:01while others urge keeping city buses fair-free to help families save money and reach jobs, groceries, and health care. Community members also stress steady investments in public safety infrastructure, like violence prevention programs and youth jobs, rather than short-term fixes. The city manager will present his recommended spending plan on May 18th. Followed by another public hearing, June 1st, work sessions later that. Month and final adoption by June 15th. Mayor Leo Williams called this the Council's most important job. D&N is brought to you by our sponsor link in the description. Head in, sound on, lights out. That is the routine, S-O-L-I, solelypillow.com. Made in AI.