{"id":1828,"date":"2026-06-06T09:34:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T09:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828"},"modified":"2026-06-06T09:34:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T09:34:06","slug":"orange-county-negotiates-higher-tax-rate-for-schools-modifies-chapel-hill-library-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828","title":{"rendered":"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Orange County residents can expect to pay higher property taxes next year, some of which will be used to budget another $1.6 million for local schools.<\/p>\n

Read more Son of James Handy’s Girlfriend Is Charged Over the Actor’s Fatal Stabbing<\/a><\/p>\n

The Orange County commissioners negotiated a 4.22-cent per $100 of assessed value tax rate increase Thursday before voting 6-1 to support a \u201cresolution of intent\u201d to approve next year\u2019s $327 million budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The board also weighed options for funding the Chapel Hill Public Library before voting to phase out the county\u2019s $621,323 contribution over the next three years.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Earl McKee voted against the draft budget resolution, saying he could not support a higher tax rate increase. Commissioners Marilyn Carter and Phyllis Portie-Ascott supported the budget resolution, but joined McKee to vote unsuccessfully against an additional 0.47-cent per $100 tax rate increase.<\/p>\n

The final budget vote is set for June 16.<\/p>\n

The county is facing pressure to rein in spending as state and federal funding shrinks for schools and social services, such as SNAP food benefits and Medicaid, passing mandated costs on to local governments.<\/p>\n

Cities and counties are also being squeezed by the state\u2019s Blue Ridge tax loophole<\/u><\/a>, which lets for-profit developers avoid paying taxes if a nonprofit partner owns a fraction of their property. State lawmakers are looking this year at ways to close the loophole.<\/p>\n

Orange County is also poised to assume more debt over the next decade, including for voter-approved school bond projects. Next year\u2019s debt includes $112.5 million for schools projects and $24.4 million for county projects.<\/p>\n

The commissioners relieved some of that pressure Thursday by voting to delay construction of new Frank Porter Graham Biling\u00fce Elementary and Orange Middle schools by one year, and a new Estes Hills Elementary School by two years.<\/p>\n

The commissioners backed Chair Jean Hamilton\u2019s recommendation, which called for tapping several pots to find more money for the schools.<\/p>\n

Read more Bernie Sanders slams Kevin O’Leary over advice to younger earners<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to remember schools are our foundation. They\u2019re a foundation for economic development \u2014 if we want to get companies to come here, they\u2019re going to want their employees to have good schools for their children,\u201d Hamilton said. Also, \u201cthe more we have schools that meet the needs of our children … we reduce crime and other costs to our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

The draft, $116.3 million schools budget includes:<\/p>\n

The board also backed Commissioner Sally Greene\u2019s recommendation to phase out the county\u2019s $621,323 Chapel Hill Public Library contribution over three years. The library would get $414,216 next fiscal year, with a potential cut to just over $207,000 in 2027-28.<\/p>\n

The contribution now represents about 14% of the library\u2019s $4.3 million operations and personnel budget. Myren\u2019s recommendation to eliminate the funding over two years prompted the Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library to launch a campaign to save the funding.<\/p>\n

Town officials have said the library could charge county residents who live outside Chapel Hill a $65 fee for library cards if the funding is cut.<\/p>\n

The funding hasn\u2019t always been certain, Greene said, but it was supposed to ensure county residents could use the town\u2019s library. The modified plan attempts \u201cto reset the relationship,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think we didn\u2019t give the town enough notice,\u201d Greene said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched their budget session. I heard their own budget director say in that work session that if she had more notice she would have been able to work the gap into their proposed budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Amy Fowler said she supports the change, \u201cbut I\u2019m hoping that we don\u2019t continue to decrease it, because I would imagine that at least half of the [county residents] using it are using it because they can\u2019t afford books and don\u2019t want to have to pay fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more JPMorgan sounds the alarm on the runaway cost of AI<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Orange County commissioners set property tax rate to give schools more money, but delays school construction and phases out Chapel Hill Public Library funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nOrange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Orange County commissioners set property tax rate to give schools more money, but delays school construction and phases out Chapel Hill Public Library funding.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-06T09:34:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T09:34:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828\"},\"wordCount\":676,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828\",\"name\":\"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T09:34:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1828#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"Orange County commissioners set property tax rate to give schools more money, but delays school construction and phases out Chapel Hill Public Library funding.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-06-06T09:34:06+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut","datePublished":"2026-06-06T09:34:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828"},"wordCount":676,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828","name":"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-06T09:34:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0a9499029393e2c01752d7b6a5689c1f.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1828#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Orange County negotiates higher tax rate for schools, modifies Chapel Hill library cut"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}