Major North Carolina city proposing property tax increases

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — As construction booms across Durham, and as the area adds more people, many of those homeowners are poised to pay more in taxes.

It’s part of an effort to increase compensation for city and county employees.

“So long as those people do get paid by these funds, I guess I’m for it,” Durham resident Harvey Gray said. “It’s a little hit financially for us.”

Both the City of Durham and the county are proposing to increase property taxes in the upcoming budgets.

On a house worth the Durham median at $254,000, the homeowner would pay an additional $180 dollars if they pay both the city and county taxes.

“Throughout the year, our employees made their voices heard about their pay,” Durham City Manager Wanda Page said at Monday night’s City Council meeting.

At that same median home price, the total property tax cost goes up to over $3,500 between the city and county.

“Please know that we do not place an unnecessary increase on property taxes,” Durham County Manager Kimberly Sowell told CBS 17 last week. “We look at all options before we make a recommendation to increase the property taxes.”

The final budgets are set to be enacted in July.

“We want to see the firefighters, police, teachers get paid out, especially after this past year,” Gray said.

You can use this online calculator to see how the potential tax increases would affect you.

The City of Durham proposes a property tax rate increase of 3.85 cents, while the county requests an increase of 3.25 cents.

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