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Of N.C. Cities, Durham's Fees Highest: Proposal Would Raise Property Taxes and Fees for City Services

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 18:00 CDT

By Michael Biesecker, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

May 22--DURHAM -- If a proposed tax increase and sewer fee hike are approved, Durham will continue to be the most expensive place to own a home when compared with North Carolina's other large cities.

An analysis of taxes and fees recommended for the next fiscal year in every Tar Heel town with a population of more than 100,000 shows Durham has the highest municipal costs -- outpacing its closest rival, Greensboro, by $85.40 annually.

The comparison is based on the taxes and fees on a $200,000 home, considered the average for a single-family residential property.

City Council members bristled last week at a report in Tuesday's News & Observer that described Durham as having the highest 2006 tax rate of any of the state's largest cities -- 58.3 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Patrick Baker, Durham's city manager, has proposed a 3.75-cent increase in the rate for next year, coupled with a 5 percent increase in water and sewer fees.

Longtime council member Howard Clement, waving a copy of the newspaper in the air, said the characterization of Durham as the state's tax capital was unfair because it did not account for such added expenses as solid waste fees, water and sewer costs and stormwater assessments.

"It's like comparing apples to prunes," Clement said at a council meeting Thursday.

At Clement's invitation, Julie Brenman, the city's budget and management director, presented slides featuring graphs she said showed that Durham was in the "middle of the pack" when its taxes and fees were compared with those of other cities.

But Brenman's assessment, based on rates proposed for the 2007 fiscal year, compared Durham with such small Triangle towns as Rolesville, Zebulon and Wendell.

According to Brenman's own analysis, the Bull City still had the highest costs of any municipality she listed with more than 100,000 residents -- Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem and Cary.

Brenman's list did not include Fayetteville, but The N&O confirmed Durham is significantly more expensive than that city as well.

"I'm looking at apples to apples here," council member Thomas Stith said of Brenman's tax and fee comparison. "And from what I see, we're the highest."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The News & Observer

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