Mecklenburg County Manager's budget has no property tax increase but lots of service cuts

Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones is expected to recommend a budget tonight with no property tax increase for most residents. Instead, Jones is calling for cuts across all county departments and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. The budget Harry Jones is set to recommend tonight will be about $100 million less than the one commissioners approved last year. Jones recommends cutting money for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools by nearly $36 million. He also wants county departments to cut their budgets by $38 million. On average Jones is asking for a 9 percent cut. There will likely be few surprises tonight, since the County Manager has laid out major portions of his budget plan over the last couple months. Jones says in such a tight year, it's important to keep commissioners and the public up-to-date. A public hearing is scheduled for May 28. Mecklenburg County Commissioners are expected to adopt a budget June 16t