Voters to decide fate of Durham bond referenda

This year's ballot asks Durham voters to approve or deny four bond referenda. These referenda allow voters to determine whether Durham County is authorized to sell bonds in order to fund specific public resources and take on debt, which the County will be authorized to repay by increasing the tax rate on its citizens.

School bonds

If approved, $90.9 million would be raised via the sale of bonds for reconstruction and maintenance of Durham area schools.

Out of the total money raised, $51.9 million would be devoted to completely rebuilding Northern High School, which was originally built in 1955. Since 2000, Durham County has devoted more than $3.5 million to Northern High School maintenance, including the replacement of the air conditioning system, the upgrade of asphalt and repairs to the tennis courts.

“We have spent a lot of money bandaging the problems with this school versus just rebuilding a new school,” wrote John White, vice president of public policy at the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce who is leading the effort in support of the bond, in an email.

The remaining funds will go to various repairs and heightened security measures in other Durham County schools. 

Library facilities bonds

The Durham County Main Library would receive $44.7 million for a major overhaul.

The 36-year-old Main Library is the only Durham library branch that has not been significantly updated since its opening.

If the bond is approved, an additional 20,000 square feet would be added to the library’s interior, and the current areas of the library would receive systems upgrades and design changes. The exterior of the building would be modified to increase aesthetic appeal and energy efficiency, while the parking layout would undergo a redesign to improve traffic flow.

White emphasized the importance of the Main Library to many Durham County citizens.

“The Main Library attracts 430,000 visitors annually and supports the 15 percent of Durham households that do not have access to any kind of broadband,” White wrote. “Specific to Durham’s workforce, approximately 27 percent of library computer users have searched for, applied for or used the library to apply for jobs.”

Community college bonds

The bond would raise $20.2 million for the maintenance and expansion of Durham Technical Community College.

The money raised would contribute to a 20,000-30,000 square foot expansion of the facilities to create additional room for automotive systems and construction classes. Some classrooms from other departments would also be relocated to the proposed expansion zone.

Additionally, more parking would be added to the campus, and a new Facilities Service Building would be constructed to serve as workspace for personnel.

“Durham Technical has been underfunded for many years,” White wrote. “While some would say we’ve been conservative in terms of how we’ve invested in DTCC and thus how often we have asked Durham County residents to support DTCC, we have not kept up with training and industry demand for Durham and the region.”

White indicated that since 2001, a total of $16.9 million has been raised via bond funding for DTCC. $332 million and $240 million have been raised for Wake County Technical College and Central Piedmont Community College, respectively. However, those colleges are much larger than DTCC.

Museum Bonds

$14.2 million in bond funding would pay for improvements to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science.

A portion of the funds would be devoted to a new parking deck, an improvement that would make access to the museum easier, White noted.

“Currently, Museum guests are being forced to park at the Durham County Stadium and catch a bus over to the facility after all the lots are full,” White wrote. “This often either forces the potential visitor away or can create a negative experience for some given the maneuvering a parent is forced to go through.”

Most of the remaining funds would be used for exhibit expansion and modification by constructing new spaces and upgrading technology.

Notes

Durham County currently has a AAA bond rating, the highest possible, which was recently re-certified during summer 2016.

The passage of all four bonds would increase annual taxation by approximately $25 per $100,000 of property value. White noted that if voters reject the bonds, Durham County may still decide to fund the projects in ways that may ultimately cost taxpayers more.

The four items are located at the end of the ballot on its reverse side. 

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