Durham plans to ask voters for $200M for pools, parks, streets and sidewalks

City leaders plan to place a $200 million bond referendum on the November ballot to improve Durham’s parks, streets and sidewalks.

The City Council told staff Thursday to begin the paperwork ahead of a May deadline to seek voter approval this year for:

• $115 million for streets and sidewalks
• $85 million for parks

If passed, the bond could add 3.45 cents per $100 of assessed value to the city property tax rate starting in 2026 and slowly dropping off over the next 20 years.

• On a median home in the city, $244,539 last year, that would add about $84 to the annual tax bill.
• The total property tax bill on the same home was $3,203 last year between county and city taxes.

What the bond would pay for

For the paving projects, the city would move forward with new construction already planned that might otherwise take years.

“What it does is just free up capacity in our regular (capital improvement) process,” Finance Director Tim Flora said.

That would help produce 12.4 miles of new sidewalks, pave 13.3 miles of unpaved roads, and speed up repairs and maintenance for both.

“Roads and sidewalks are where we see some of our deepest levels of resident dissatisfaction,” council member Javiera Caballero said. “To meet that need it’s going to take something like this and probably, as we’ve discussed, several rounds of this.”

The parks money would be split almost evenly between two projects:

• An aquatic wonderland — with pools, a lazy river and water slides — at Wheels Fun Park , a former skating rink set to reopen this fall.
• A pool, new play areas and other improvements at Long Meadow and East End parks on Alston Avenue .

Council member Chelsea Cook, who works in eviction defense, said she fully supports the bonds.

“I do think there is more to living in Durham than just surviving, and I want to make sure that we are also creating a Durham where people can thrive and have leisure time and enjoy their space,” Cook said.

City leaders also discussed $305 million for a new convention center and $119 million to help get to carbon neutrality, though neither made the final cut.

Mayor Leonardo Williams said he wanted more time to gather support on the convention-center item.

“Every data point shows how badly we need a new convention center, but we just aren’t ready for it yet,” Williams said.

The City Council still must vote to put the bonds on the ballot this fall. It’s scheduled to discuss them again May 20.