Harnett rejects tax increase, seeks more cuts

Harnett County commissioners on Thursday bowed to the wishes of voters and decided not to increase property taxes to balance the 2011-12 county budget.

Posted 8:28 p.m. Jun 24, 2011 — Updated 8:28 p.m. Jun 24, 2011

LILLINGTON, N.C. — Harnett County commissioners on Thursday bowed to the wishes of voters and decided not to increase property taxes to balance the 2011-12 county budget.

Instead, they told County Manager Scott Sauer to revise his $100 million budget proposal and cut more spending.

Sauer's previous budget called for raising the county property tax rate by 4 cents per $100 valuation. That was after county employees complained about his other proposals. One would have laid off 30 county workers and raised the tax rate by 2 cents, and the other would have included a 5-cent increase to the tax rate and employee furloughs.

The current tax rate is 72.5 cents per $100 of valuation.

Commissioners said additional cuts would likely lead to some layoffs and some reduction in county services.

The new budget must be adopted by next Thursday.

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