PITTSBORO - Chatham County will delay property revaluation for one year and delay for 30 days construction bids for the new joint library and classrooms at Central Carolina Community College because of the tight credit market across the nation.

With lower-than-expected revenues, County Manager Charlie Horne said several cost-cutting measures also would be implemented, including a temporary freeze on all nonessential county staff positions and a ban on unnecessary travel.

On Oct. 20, the Board of Commissioners will consider short-term delays of other county-funded facilities, if needed. However, planning and design of facilities could continue.

"These actions were necessary because, at least for the short term, we are currently feeling the impact of the national financial situation," commissioners Chairman George Lucier said. "We are not happy about taking any of these steps, but we are all in the same boat right now."

The county's unemployment rate was 5.6 percent for August, compared with 3.7 percent in August 2007. Foreclosure sales and bankruptcies also are increasing.

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