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GREENSBORO — Guilford County residents can expect another property tax rate increase.

How would you cut the county budget? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

County Manager David McNeill gave his recommended 2008-09 budget to the county commissioners Thursday night. The $587.9 million budget includes a tax increase that would have the owners of a $200,000 house pay $109 more than they did last year.

That $109 would include at least $69 toward the debt created by $651.4 million in new bonds that voters approved May 6.

The overall 5.46-cent rate increase that McNeill recommended would raise the property tax rate to 74.6 cents per $100 valuation.

Included in the proposed budget, which still must be approved by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners:

• A 3 percent raise for county employees.

• $12.5 million of a $15.8 million requested increase for Guilford County Schools.

• Funding for nonprofits related to economic development.

Not included in the proposed budget:

• A clinic to answer issues about health care access for underserved areas in southeast Greensboro.

• Funding for cultural and arts nonprofit groups.

Board of Education member Kris Cooke said she was upset to see only $12.5 million for schools in McNeill's recommended budget. Cooke skipped part of the school board's meeting Thursday to hear the budget recommendation at the Old County Courthouse.

"I know that what we bring is real," Cooke said, adding that some school repair projects would have to wait if the school board does not receive its full request. "We have to weigh the needs."

McNeill's recommended budget only gets the ball rolling as the 11-member Board of Commissioners begins molding the budget that will be approved in June.

A list of cuts that the commissioners could make to save more money also came with the budget.

Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston said he may come up with some other suggested cuts and plans to introduce funding requests for some of the nonprofit arts and cultural groups.

Commissioner Mike Winstead said it's too soon to tell what areas he would recommend cutting or adding to the budget.

Winstead said he was chagrined by the results of the May 6 primary, which included referenda on bonds that passed and a quarter-cent sales tax that failed.

"If people don't get their heads out of the sand on how they want to pay for things, then it's going to get tough," he said, adding that he expects the quarter-cent sales tax to reappear on the Nov. 4 ballot.

To fund the 2008-09 budget McNeill recommended, the county would dip in its reserve. Under state law, that reserve fund must equal at least 8 percent of the county's overall budget. If the $25.4 million that McNeill recommended is transferred from the reserve, the money left over would equal 8.2 percent of the county's overall budget.

Through the year that account usually grows through tax revenues that go unspent. The reserve also helps pay for emergency expenses the county may face.

Guilford County commissioners will approve a budget after several meetings and a hearing on June 6.

It's unlikely that the final version will reflect what McNeill has recommended. Commissioners still must cut and add to the budget and build a consensus to pass the document.

Historic sticking points for the commissioners have included spending on schools and on nonprofits, as well as equipment and personnel additions.

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