At a work session last night Morrisville commissioners drastically cut several items from this year’s budget to make it revenue neutral.

The meeting was continued to a 7 p.m. session tonight, June 26 where commissioners could vote on the revised budget.

Residents had clamored for a budget reduction after officials presented a budget earlier this month that was 19 percent over revenue-neutral.

On Wednesday Town Manager John Whitson led staff in revising the proposed budget, cutting components from town events like the Christmas parade to new department vehicles to staff training.

Whitson had warned commissioners that making the budget revenue-neutral could include staff cuts, though the revised budget slices no personnel positions.

“I did not want to see us going into cutting personnel,” said Mayor Jan Faulkner.

Faulkner said that she felt personnel cuts would affect the quality of services offered by the town would be affected.

Revenue-neutral describes a tax rate that is lowered to compensate for a revaluation in which property values are increased, keeping the actual money raised by taxes the same as before the revaluation. Wake County’s latest property tax revaluation, the first since 2000, became effective Jan. 1.

The originally proposed tax rate of 43.96 cents per $100 would have meant that the owner of a $200,000 home would pay about $878 in municipal taxes.

Town commissioners will most likely vote on the revised revenue-neutral budget at tonight’s session. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Morrisville Town Hall at 100 Town Hall Drive.

“We hope to be done by 7:15,” Faulkner said.

According to state law the new budget has to be in place by July 1.