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posted by David Damron on Jul 24, 2008 11:19:23 AM Orange County Commissioners tentatively approved a $3.3 billion budget Wednesday that calls for no hike in the county property tax rate. The slim list of budget winners are folks rooting for more public safety: corrections, sheriff's deputy and firefighter ranks all swell, while raises for most of the rest will be smaller and the overall staff shrinks slightly. But there's plenty of losers: mainly anyone who relies on Lynx. Commissioners chatted up then ignored a permanent funding source for the regional bus system. Commissioner Linda Stewart plugged a penny gas tax for voters to approve, but County Attorney Tom Drage argued it was too late for this fall's ballot, and no revenues could arrive until 2010. Although commissioners tossed around the idea of raising the sales tax... [read full story]
