Personal and Professional

I am J. Rives Manning, Jr., also known by my nickname "Judge." That is not a title but a nickname that I have since a few hours after I was born. My grandmother gave me the nickname "Judge" and I have been using it ever since. There are probably as many people that know me as "Judge" as know me as Rives. In 2010 the NC State Board of Elections approved my use of my nickname "Judge" and put it on the Ballot in 2010. The NC BOE did not approve my use of "Judge" on the ballot this year. So, the nickname "Judge" will not be on the May 6, 2014 Democratic Primary ballot.

I have been a property and casualty insurance agent for over 40 years. My wife and I operated Halifax Farmers Insurance Service, Inc., from 1981 thru 2002. I reactivated our agency about two years ago.

I was married to my wife, Judy S. Manning for over 50 years. We had two sons, John W. Manning, who is deceased and Arlie R. Manning, who is married and they have one young daughter. They live in Youngsville.

1. Why are you running?

I am running for re-election as a Halifax County Commissioner. I believe this is the most important election in Halifax County that I have ever seen. This year the seats we vote for are elected from the whole county and are called “At large” seats. I have served since 2002 and I have been asked by many citizens to run again. I believe that I have done a good job as commissioner, my health is good and I bring experience to the Board that some of the other members don't have.

2. Are you for or against school merger?

Under the NC General Statutes that are in place today, the County Commissioners are given the authority to merge school districts within their county BUT there are also some strong financial requirements that go with the merger. The statute actually reads as follows:

NCGS par 115C-68.1. Merger of units by the board of commissioners.

(a) The board of commissioners of a county in which two or more local school administrative units are located, but all are located wholly within the county, may adopt a plan for the consolidation and merger of the units into a single countywide unit.

The plan adopted under this subsection shall require that the county adopting the plan provide local funding per average daily membership to the resulting local school administrative unit for the subsequent years of at least the highest level of any local school administrative unit in the county during the preceding five fiscal years before the merger.

Funding for the schools comes from several sources. There are Federal funds, State funds and local funds. At the present time the Halifax County budget provides the same amount per student, per ADM, to each school district annually. Additionally the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District (RRGSD) has a $.21 per hundred supplemental school tax and the Weldon City School District (WCSD) has a $.17 per hundred supplemental school tax. The Halifax County School District (HCSD) does not have a supplemental school tax. In May 2012, the voters in the HCSD voted 72% AGAINST to 28% FOR a supplemental school tax in that district.

Under NCGS 115C-68.1 the Halifax County Commissioners have the authority to merge the three districts into one countywide district but the funds provided must be increased to the highest level of any district, which means there would be over a 30 percent property tax increase for the majority of Halifax County property owners. The Supplemental School Tax of the RRGSD is $.21 per hundred and the WCSD of $.17 per hundred would be done away with but at least the amount of the RRGSD rate ($.21/hundred)) would be added to the current Halifax County Property Tax Rate of $.68/hundred) for a new Tax Rate of at least $.89/hundred for the whole county.

3. If you are against school merger please explain why?

I as a Halifax County Commissioner will not vote to impose a 30 percent, or higher, increase in the Property Tax rate on those people who voted against that increase two years ago.

No one has shown me how a merger of the three Halifax County school systems would improve the education of the students and I do not believe that a merger will improve the basic education level of the students in any of the present school districts. The Halifax County School Board and administration have not been held accountable for the missing large amount of money.

4. Please explain what the economic advantages or disadvantages to merger are?

I believe the first thing you will see is a drop in value of at least $10,000 per home in the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District. This would drop the sales values of those homes and shortly will cause a drop the tax value and ultimately lower the amount of taxes that would be generated by the Property Tax rate. In order for the County to receive the same amount of tax dollars the property tax rate would have to be increased.

I believe another consequence of a merger is it will be harder to recruit and convince new businesses and industry to locate in Halifax County. It will also cause some of our current businesses to move to a more tax friendly area. That means a loss of potential jobs and also of current jobs and thereby a lowering of the county’s tax base.

5. Do you feel there are any alternatives to merger that could be explored?

I believe that the elected School Boards should take it upon themselves to all become Trustees of the public’s funds, property and to work harder toward improving the education of the children. I believe that the Halifax County Schools should look for where that “missing” money went and try to recover it.

I believe that the Basics of education, reading, writing and arithmetic should be strongly taught in the lower, K – 4th grades, to make sure the students get a good foundation to start their education.

I believe the School Boards and the Administrations should be held accountable for their funds and the oversight.

I believe if some of those people who are working so hard to try to tear down other systems would spend half that time and effort in helping to improve, (helping with reading, tutoring of students, etc.) our education system would be better for it.

I believe the School Boards and Administrators of the School Districts should be held accountable for the oversight and accounting for their funding.

6. Which report do you feel is more valid. The UNC Center for Civil Rights Study or the Evergreen Report. Please explain why?

I want to see an improvement in the education of the students of Halifax County, in every school and school system. I would like to see all of our students reading on grade level, doing math on grade level and with all of them testing above the state average.

I believe the Evergreen Report was a much more valid report on how to improve the schools and the education of the children of Halifax County. This report did at least look at each school system and what could be done to improve the education of the students in that system. This report listed ways and methods to improve the education, ways to conserve and better utilize funds and pointed out where savings could be made.

I do not remember seeing anywhere in the UNC Center for Civil Rights study any methods on how to improve the education of the students. This “study” does not seem to be based on any scientific method and it appeared to have been started with a conclusion and then they came up with “ideas” on how to justify that preformed conclusion. The conclusions of this “study” were based on misstatements, misinformation and biased projections. That method of creating a study or report, in my opinion, does not make any report valid, no matter who does it or where it comes from.

7. The County’s fund balance has dipped dangerously low. Please explain how you think this happened. Please explain what needs to be done to get it back up to acceptable levels.

When Mr. Pierce and I were elected to the commission in 2002, the fund balance was under 8 percent. Repairs had not been made, personnel had been terminated, funds had been transferred to areas they weren’t supposed to go. The new Board that we were a part of had to make some drastic changes. We had to have a tax increase in 2003.

We adopted a revenue based budgeting method where the departments have to operate within the amount of money they are given and all of it is based upon the amount of revenue the county will receive. We got hard on cutting spending. This helped increase fund balance percentage. The tax base was increasing and so revenue was increasing. We were trying to maintain the fund balance at around 18 to 22 percent of revenue. Over the years the fund balance rose to well over that level.

There are a number of things that have caused this reduction in the fund balance percentage from the highest point that we had gotten it to.

They were:

1- Not increasing taxes each year, while taking some money from the fund balance to balance the budget.

2- The slowing and falling economy and still not increasing taxes.

3- About three years ago there was a change in the way fund balance was calculated for Government Audits which dropped the fund balance percentage by about 10 to 12 percent in one year. The economy hasn’t improved that much and the growth of our property tax base has been very slow to grow.

Then the economy got worse and the tax base wasn’t growing as much as expected, repairs had to be made. Rather than increase property taxes to balance the budget, we took funds from the fund balance. The fund balance was still increasing but not as much as before.

At this time the new industries that we recruited and thought were coming delayed their openings. Spending by existing companies for improvements decreased or stopped and our property tax base didn’t increase. Knowing that our citizens were also being hurt by the bad economy we balanced the budget with funds from the fund balance. Growth has not been up to expectations for them or the county.

8. Some governments enact small tax increases each year to keep up with the cost of doing business. Would you be in favor of this? Why or why not?

I and the other commissioners have found it very hard to increase property taxes as long as we have a fund balance that is higher than our “desired” percentage or even adequate just the minimum percentage.

I do not like taxes but I know that in order for us to have good government we must pay for it and taxes are the only method we have of providing that funding. I want our governments to be accountable and “tight” with the money there receive. They must be accountable and thrifty with it.

If a small tax increase is necessary and the commissioners have made other cuts and they find they need to increase the taxes a small amount, I can agree with that.

9. Discuss any other issues you feel are important for the betterment of Halifax County and what you would do to improve them.

I believe that this is a very important Halifax County election and the consequences of this election will be with us for many years. It is important for each and every voter to be informed and to vote for the candidate that they believe will do the best job in representing Halifax County.

In 1776 the citizens of Halifax County and North Carolina and the 13 Colonies went to war over Taxation without Representation. I see that is almost the issue of the vote taking place in Halifax County on May 6, 2014. This is a vote for your pocketbook.

Our nation operates under laws and the ones that apply are the laws that are in effect today, not those that might apply or that might be changed. The copy shown of the NCGS 115C-68.1 is the one that is in effect today. If you doubt it, check it out.