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GREENSBORO — Taxes will rise in the upcoming Guilford County budget.

What would you cut to keep expenses down? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

That's what county commissioners said a day after voters approved all but one municipal bond in Tuesday's primary.

From those votes, over the next five years, the owner of a $200,000 home can expect to pay $185 more per year on the county tax bill.

And the early projection on a tax-rate increase in the 2008-09 budget would add another $60 to that property tax bill to keep up the business of the county's sheriff's office, jail, schools, administration and other functions.

Not much room exists in extra spending, either, with increasing gas costs and a greater demand for county services as more people try to make paychecks stretch.

"I don't think it will be a budget that anyone will draw up in our dreams," said Kirk Perkins, chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.

Though the tax increase appears inevitable, commissioners must still decide how it's spent.

Money requests are in for the half-billion-dollar county budget as the first presentation on May 22 nears:

* $250,000 to improve access to health care centers in southeast Greensboro.

* Returning funding to nonprofits, including arts and culture groups such as the United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro; business groups such as Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network; and others such as the Boys and Girls Club of High Point, requests totaling $1.6 million from 22 applicants.

* County department requests for more staff, particularly in Social Services, which has seen increases in requests for help as the economy worsens for residents.

* A mandatory increase for 28 deputies at the Guilford County jail, a cost of at least $1.2 million.

* Guilford County Schools' request for $15.8 million more than last year.

"With the bond passing and the sales tax not passing, I don't see how we can fund it all," said Commissioner John Parks, a proponent of a quarter-cent sales tax that failed Tuesday.

Many in county halls hoped for the sales tax to generate an estimated $15.8 million for the county. Without that, many commissioners are expecting cuts.

"Unless we cut services drastically, we're going to see some rate increases, and they are not going to be favorable by many of our citizens," said Bruce Davis.

Davis said he wouldn't go into detail on places he hoped to cut in County Manager David McNeill's budget.

The board asked for a zero-tax rate increase budget along with McNeill's recommended budget, which usually includes a tax increase.

"It's a worst-case-scenario as far as a budget year," said Steve Arnold, known for opposing tax increases. But he said the sales tax could've helped this year's budget.

"A lot of the commissioners, I think, were relying on that to help with the debt service," Arnold said.

So were some members of local nonprofit arts groups.

Commissioner Carolyn Coleman would like to give those groups funding again.

"I wasn't one of those commissioners that supported not funding (nonprofit community organizations) last year, and I hope that we'll reconsider," Coleman said.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com