🌳 DPS Asks County for $252M, Exceeding Available Revenue
Thursday, April 2 | ⛅ 82°/62°
Today: DPS Asks County for $252M, Exceeding Available Revenue, Duke Energy Seeks 18% Rate Hike as Bills Climb, 7 quick hits.
3-minute read
DPS Asks County for $252M, Exceeding Available Revenue
Durham Public Schools' board voted Thursday to send the county a $252 million funding request for the coming year, a $28.5 million increase over last year's allocation. County officials have already said the math doesn't work: Durham has roughly $8.7 million in new revenue available if commissioners hold the property tax rate flat. The DPS request is more than three times that amount.
- Classified staff pay makes up $15 million of the increase. DPS wants to raise minimum wages for classified workers from $17.15 to $19.22 an hour, a 12 percent bump the Durham Association of Educators advanced through the district's meet and confer process.
- Continuation funding of $11 million would keep existing services at current levels, not add anything new. The county has said even that baseline increase exceeds what's available.
- Technology replacements account for $3 million, covering student laptops and classroom projectors.
- Charter schools would automatically receive roughly 20 percent of any new county funding directed to DPS, shrinking what the district itself could deploy.
The county was already facing a structural budget gap before this request arrived. County Commissioner Wendy Jacobs said the expected ask was "literally not possible." Sales tax revenue has stalled, and commissioners have not yet said whether they will raise property taxes to close the distance.
The county releases its proposed budget in May. A final funding decision comes in June, when the gap between what DPS needs and what the county can offer will have to be resolved.
Duke Energy Seeks 18% Rate Hike as Bills Climb
Duke Energy wants state regulators to approve an 18% residential rate increase over two years in North Carolina, a change that could add about $34 a month for the average household by 2028. The request landed at a moment when customers have already seen electric bills rise about 22% since 2020. At a public hearing Monday in Raleigh, residents pushed back on both the size of the increase and Duke's handling of billing.
- The case is now before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which heard in-person comments March 30 at the Dobbs Building in Raleigh. A virtual public hearing is scheduled for April 1 at 6:30 p.m.
- More than 71,000 people had signed a petition by Monday calling for an independent audit of Duke's billing practices and customer refunds.
- Duke says the higher rates are needed to pay for a larger and more resilient electric system as North Carolina adds residents and faces stronger demands on the grid.
- The company also said North Carolina added about 150,000 new Duke customers in the last two years, which required 50,000 new poles and 4,000 miles of wire.
For Durham customers, the case could shape household costs well beyond one billing cycle. Duke said recent high bills were driven mostly by increased usage and state growth, while customers and advocates have also raised concerns online about billing and affordability.
State regulators are still reviewing the case. The proposed increase would affect Duke customers across North Carolina, including in Durham, if approved.
Roundup
- Bull City Records is closing after 20 years, with a final sale running through April at 124 E. Main St.
- The University Club of Durham shut down after 39 years, citing pandemic losses it never recovered from.
- Durham City Council is moving toward 80 affordable units at the old police headquarters site, with a developer expected by July.
- Proximity Brewing closed its Driver Street taproom, citing high costs, but plans to keep brewing and find a new space.
- DPS fired deputy superintendent Tanya Giovanni after she was charged with five counts of obstructing justice in an abuse coverup case.
- GoTriangle and Durham secured $32M in federal bus funding, including $6.1M for Durham to purchase new buses.
- Rhiannon Giddens returns to Durham for a free April 26 program at The Fruit and a DPAC concert with Mavis Staples.
Events
Carolina Theatre 100th Birthday Party
April 3 · Carolina Theatre
April 3 · DPAC
BITE: A Performance by Raheleh Filsoofi
April 2 · Nasher Museum
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Play Grateful Dead Acoustic Reckoning
April 6 · Haw River Ballroom
April 7 · Carolina Theatre
April 8 · DPAC
April 9 · DPAC