Cary leaders are getting their first look at the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2009, which comes in at more than $300 million.

That's actually a 20 percent decrease from this year's budget.

A major reason for that: one of the big-ticket items, the Western Wake Water Reclamation Facility, is not as big a factor this year.

Town officials seem happy with what they're seeing so far, with more jobs and lower taxes.

One of the biggest highlights is the property tax rate, which is changing because Wake County revalued property.

The tax rate is actually going down a little, but because of the revaluation, owners of a $300,000 house will pay about $30 dollars more.

"Initial reaction is I'm very pleased," said Town Council member Don Frantz.

He and the other council members won't start looking at the budget in detail until a work session next week, but at first glance, some of them are already happy.

"Council had made it clear to the budget department and staff months ago that we intended to stay revenue-neutral," said Frantz. "We did not want to play any games."

Wading through all 327 pages of the budget proposal can be a little daunting, but it doesn't take to long to figure out some of the big ticket items.

Almost half ($139 million) is earmarked for capital improvements, with about $49 million going towards water and sewer upgrades and another $90 million for everything else.

Every budget seems to put a priority on transportation projects, and this is no exception, with a total number coming in around $61 million.

"The normal maintenance of all our roads always takes a big chunk," said Assistant Town Manager Ben Shivar.

Aside from roads, there's also a lot of money planned for downtown renewal projects, including $16 million to renovate the old Cary Elementary building.

On the operations side of things, the town is hoping to add the equivalent of 25 full time employees, including a handful of new positions in the 911 operation center.

"We need it today," said Deputy Police Chief Barry Nickalson. "Staffing is our biggest issue in our com center. It can't come too soon."

The proposed budget does have at least one increase: monthly solid waste fees would go up a couple dollars to cover the cost of a revamped recycling program.

Some water customers could see their rates increase by about one percent, as well.

The town is hoping for a final budget approval towards the end of June.