ORANGE COUNTY – County Commissioners will sign off on a new budget and five year capital investment plan when the board meets Tuesday.

After weeks of negotiation and public hearings that drew dozens of residents to plead for more school funding, commissioners will finalize a spending plan that maintains the current property tax rate while digging into reserve funds to give more money to schools.

The budget also calls for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro special district tax rate to increase by two cents to provide $ 2 million dollars to open the new Northside Elementary.

The plan includes money for new EMS personnel and technology upgrades, and sets aside a quarter of a million dollars for the Social Justice Fund, designed to lessen the impact of state cuts to social programs.

The board meets at 7:00 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center on Homestead Road.

AGENDA