Mecklenburg County Commissioners are expected to approve the county’s nearly $1.4 billion 2011-12 budget on Tuesday night. The spending plan, which takes effect July 1, adds money for schools, parks and CPCC, and has $3 million that will keep open all library branches in the coming year.
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CHARLOTTE – Mecklenburg County commissioners met Wednesday night to continue preparing the budget for a final vote next week. WFAE-FM reports that commissioners said they support the county manager’s proposal to provide Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools with an extra $26 million in funding next fiscal year. Commissioners also discussed making some additional service cuts that would allow the county to lower the property tax rate by 2 cents. Read the full story

By LISA MILLER
WFAE

CHARLOTTE – The CMS school board is expected to request an extra $55 million from Mecklenburg County and the state tonight. School board members made their intentions known two weeks ago on how to help close an estimated $100 million budget gap. They want the county and state to come up with an extra $55 million. Read the full story

How one real estate couple turned sexy ads into sales. In Real Estate & Home, CLICK HERE »

Also coming up today in Real Estate & Home, the latest Davidson and Cornelius home sales, and Teal Michel’s Interior Design column, looking at how to decorate 2-story foyers. www.davidsonnews.net/realestate

Alliances, collaborations and partnerships among news organizations have become the answer to shrinking news room staffs and increasing demand for local news coverage. CorneliusNews.net and DavidsonNews.net are joining forces with Charlotte public radio station WFAE 90.7fm through a partnership to provide more news to their audiences. Read the full story

By LISA MILLER
WFAE

Mecklenburg County officials expect the county will end the fiscal year in June with about $11 million to spare. But that still means tough choices for next year’s budget. Read the full story

By LISA MILLER
WFAE-FM

CHARLOTTE – Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman sent an email to all of the district’s 18,000 employees on Monday letting them know lay-off notices will soon be going out.

Next year’s budget is far from finalized. The county and state must still decide how much to give CMS. But Gorman has planned for a $100 million budget cut. Under his plan, that would mean cutting 1,500 jobs, including 600 teachers.

“In earlier years, we have been able to rescind some of the letters to teachers and other employees when our funding exceeded our estimates,” says Gorman’s email. “We hope that will be the case this year. But we won’t know for a while.” Read the full story

ReVenture site plan. Click to visit the ReVenture site and download a larger version.

Two years ago, developers proposed turning a contaminated 667-acre Superfund site in Charlotte into a “renewable energy eco-industrial park,” which would convert trash to energy and help boost recycling in the region. A year ago, the Davidson Town Board threw its support behind the idea. What’s happened since then?
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