We call on Duke University and Duke University Health System to make voluntary payments in lieu of taxes to the City of Durham and Durham County starting in 2024.​

 

Durham has long struggled with poverty and underinvestment, followed by rapid gentrification and displacement. Durham’s skyrocketing cost of living places many hardships and heavy burdens on poor communities, seniors, and residents on fixed incomes. Meanwhile, our public services have endured years of austerity; disinvestment in public services has exacerbated educational, health, and economic inequalities, with especially harmful effects on communities of color. This unsustainable path will continue so long as Duke maintains an antidemocratic relationship with the city and county it calls home.

 

​In the year of its centennial, it is time for a democratic partnership that Durham residents want, need, and deserve. It is time for Duke to contribute its fair share. It is time for Duke to respect Durham.​

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