Highlights about Economic Development

The Durham City Council hears how an unprecedented drought pushed the city into Stage 2 water restrictions, then approves a one-year moratorium on new data centers and crypto mining to protect resources while new rules are written. Council members also navigate a difficult budget season and a closely watched East Durham rezoning aimed at balancing reinvestment, jobs, and environmental justice.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners fast-tracks a new detention center maintenance contract, digs into the FY 2027 transit work program and the City’s transit budget shortfall, and pushes back on last-minute service changes from regional partners. The board then turns to whether to impose a time-limited moratorium on large data centers, weighing environmental risks, economic development, and how to tailor new rules to Durham’s tech-driven economy.

The Durham City Council confronts a strained budget with no property tax rate increase, rising utility costs, new investments in homelessness, transit, and public safety, and some painful service cuts. Council then wrestles with where and how Durham should grow—rejecting development outside the urban growth boundary, questioning a major jobs-area map change, and ultimately backing a denser infill rezoning with added affordable housing and school funding.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners honors EMS workers and mental health providers before unveiling a recommended budget that balances a proposed 2‑cent property tax increase, funding boosts for Durham Public Schools, pre‑K, and public safety, and new EMS and sheriff positions. Commissioners also weigh human services investments, rising utility and employee healthcare costs, and targeted changes to the urban growth boundary and place type map to guide future development.