The vast majority of Mecklenburg residents likely won't see their property taxes go up.

But an estimated 51,000 people living in the unincorporated areas of the county could see their bills go up about 2 percent to pay for police service. For the owner of a home valued at $200,000, that could mean an increase of about $48.

Steep budget cuts mean the county will have countywide layoffs for the first time in recent years. The budget plan would cut 334 positions, including laying off 89 current employees. The rest of the cuts are vacant positions. The county also is planning to freeze employee salaries for one year, and ask workers to pay a larger share of their health insurance.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, one of the largest county expenses, is set to receive about $34 million less in the new budget. The district had requested flat funding from the county, and said any cuts would lead to layoffs of more than 700 employees, including more than 400 teachers.

Meanwhile, Central Piedmont Community College has been asked to cut about $2.5 million from its budget. The college plans to operate on a four-day schedule this summer, plus trim maintenance and security costs.

County departments are cutting about $38 million from their budgets, including $6 million from the Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office and $10.8 from the Department of Social Services. The county's library system said it may close all branches on Sundays. Among other cuts: reductions in some nonmandated benefits to foster children and elimination of the Fighting Back drug and alcohol abuse prevention program.

No local budget cuts have been announced for the justice agencies. Earlier this year, commissioners agreed to a $3 million plan that would pay for, among other things, legal and administrative assistants for the District Attorney's Office, electronic monitoring devices for Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and a mental health court counselor. That plan included money for both the current and 2009-10 budgets.

The county wants to give about $4.3 million to 25 programs run by nonprofits and other outside service agencies, about 8.5 percent less than this year. Also, the county may phase out funding to three low-performing groups and ask others to consider merging. The county also is paying $1.5 million for seven programs with which it has contractual obligations.

No money was given to first-time applicants.

This is perhaps the only area in the budget to see an increase in spending for next year. The county plans to spend about $194 million to pay off bonds it borrowed for construction. That's about $22 million more than the county spent on debt service this year, but less than it would have been had commissioners not voted in January to delay a bond sale. Also, the county will increase its pay-as-you-go fund, which uses cash instead of bonds to pay for projects.

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