The Orange County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $177,589,039 budget for fiscal year 2010 Tuesday night.

The board, at its meeting at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, set the county property tax rate at 85.8 cents per $100 valuation, a decrease from last year’s level of 99.8 cents. The new fiscal year starts on July 1.

The decrease partially offsets increases from property revaluations and provides the county with revenues at the same level as last fiscal year. Despite being “revenue neutral,” most county residents will see an increase in their property tax bills, in part to make up for a recession-driven drop in vehicle taxes.

The budget includes the costs of opening new county facilities and uses reserve funds to help staff a new main branch library in Hillsborough. Staffing the library allowed the county to keep open the Carrboro Branch Library and the Cedar Grove Branch Library. A previous budget proposal, which called for closing the branches and moving their employees to the new library, was rejected by commissioners last week.

To hold down costs this year and pay for opening the new facilities, the county has saved money through a hiring freeze and by delaying pay increases for county workers.