AUBURN -- Cayuga County Manager Wayne Allen rolled out the tentative 2008 budget featuring a 5.8 percent property tax levy increase Thursday.

The $136 million spending plan carries a $10.16 per $1,000 of assessed property value base rate, 2.1 percent higher than this year's, that will vary by municipality. In the city, the rate would drop about 20 cents, from $9.05 per $1,000 this year to $8.85.

Once again, salaries, benefits and state mandates most heavily influenced the $3.4 million, 2.6 percent, increase in county spending, Allen said. Nearly $45 million would go toward salary and fringe benefits in 2008 under the tentative budget.

"Half of your levy comes from social services," he said, referring to the tentative $33.5 million to be raised by taxes. "It's something nobody can stop."

A state cap on Medicaid has helped. This year's increase in social service spending, which totals about $18.6 million, represents less than a percent.

However, Allen predicts tighter state and federal budgets in 2009 will negate the break.

"They're not generating enough state income so they're not going to have the revenue to support their services," Allen said. "We're forced to pick up a bigger piece."

For more on this story, read Friday's edition of The Citizen.