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Clallam: Commissioners delay passing budget, but split over raising
taxes along party lines 2002-12-04 Clallam County commissioners postponed adopting their 2003 budget Tuesday, but they increased taxes by a 2-1 vote. The only Republican on the three-member board, Mike Chapman of Port Angeles, cast the dissenting vote on raising the county's property taxes by 1 percent and road taxes by 1 percent. Chapman told Commissioners Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, and Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, that he voted against the increases because ``the people say no new taxes.'' When Doherty asked Chapman to come up with more budget cuts, Chapman said he had, ``but they were ignored.'' Tharinger said the tax increase was necessary only to ``provide a base'' to continue quality county services, and he also saw it as a show of support for county employees. |