COLUMBIA ó Time is getting short as a committee of legislators tries again today to reach a compromise on how to provide relief from property taxes.

Budget talks between House and Senate lawmakers stalled Monday after House lawmakers said they were unwilling to go further without progress on property tax reform.

A conference committee on the property tax issue discussed possible compromises but failed to reach any agreement by late Monday night, lawmakers on the panel said afterward.

"I think we might have made some progress," said Sen. Hugh Leatherman, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, "but we did not make enough progress to make an agreement."

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Leatherman said the sticking point is the House members' objections to local governments having the option to increase school operating taxes once they are removed. He said both sides looked at increasing the sales tax by 1 cent per dollar.

Rep. Bill Cotty, a Columbia Republican leading the House negotiators, said the option to raise taxes locally is but one difference between the two sides. He said the House has not backed away from its plan to increase the sales tax by 2 cents.

The House-passed plan would reduce most taxes on owner-occupied homes and also eliminate the sales tax on food. The House included $117 million in its budget to help pay for its tax-relief package. The Senate took it out.

The Senate-passed plan would allow each county to choose whether to eliminate or reduce taxes by raising local sales taxes.

Cotty said both sides might benefit from conferring with colleagues returning to Columbia today.

"I'm hopeful and still optimistic that we'll not only work it out but we'll work it out without a delay (in adjournment)," Cotty said.

Earlier Monday, Rep. Annette Young, a Summerville Republican, told Senate members of the budget conference committee that "I've gone as far as I'm going" on the budget without progress on property tax.

House leaders have warned in recent weeks that their members are prepared to stretch the legislative session past its scheduled close on June 1 if no substantive property tax legislation is passed.

Leatherman, who also chairs the budget conference committee, said Monday night that the budget panel won't meet until the property tax committee has reached some agreement.

Meanwhile, Gov. Mark Sanford on Monday issued a statement urging senators negotiating the property tax issue to "move in the direction" of the House plan in providing what he called "immediate tax relief."