Standing tough against 1 percent county tax levy increases, Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman on Tuesday refused to support a $60.1 million 2003 county budget proposal.

Chapman, R-Port Angeles, called for deeper county cuts before increased taxation.

But Commissioners Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, and Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, declined to rescind the tax increase allowed by state law.

Instead, they challenged Chapman to come up with his own cuts to offset the increase approved 2-1 Monday after two budget hearings.

Tharinger and Doherty supported the tax increase; Chapman opposed them.

The lone Republican accepted the challenge.

“If that’s what you want, that’s what I can do for the next work session,” Chapman told Tharinger and Doherty.

———

The rest of the story appears in the Wednesday Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.