NC city to consider domestic partner benefits

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Leaders in North Carolina's largest city will consider extending medical and leave benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees. WCNC-TV reported that new Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx said city council will examine its nondiscrimination policy and adding benefits for the domestic partners of city employees could be considered. A 2004 study estimated the cost of extending benefits to domestic partners of city employees at up to $300,000 a year. Mecklenburg County last week became the seventh local government in North Carolina to extend the benefits of married, heterosexual couples to same-sex couples. The state's most populous county follows Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham, Greensboro and Durham and Orange counties in approving the benefits. Information from: WCNC-TV (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)