The adjustment, he said, is to make up for a revenue loss reflected in the countywide property valuation.

“The county did have growth this year,” he wrote in a paper outlining the proposed fiscal year 2015-2016 financial plan. “A majority of the growth came via sales tax, motor vehicle and property taxes.”

However, he explains in the document, “With the revaluation process, the county property values fell countywide by an average of 7 percent.”

The corresponding revenue neutral rate for the upcoming fiscal year will require an adjustment from 68 cents per $100 valuation to 73 cents per $100 valuation.

He told commissioners during their budget work session this is necessary “to keep the same revenues for the government to function.”

Throughout the evening Brown gave the board eight different options to review. The tax rate adjustment is assumed in all the options with the first four using only fund balance. Options 5 through 8 include scenarios in which a tax increase is added to the adjustment.

As his proposal stands, without the different options, the budget would look like the following:

No department increase and a 5 percent health insurance increase.

No employee pay for performance.

No cost of living or market adjustment.

Maintains a flat budget for the three school systems and Halifax Community College.

Without the different options the proposed budget would not fund the following:

County departments' un-financed requirements and capital outlay.

School current expense.

School capital outlay.

Some outside funding requests.

The options

Option 1 would use $1,591,442 of fund balance and reduce the account to 15 percent.

It would fund $1,258,400 in school capital outlay that would pay for the following:

Roof replacement at HCC.

Boiler, press boxes, lab upgrades, generators and cameras for the county school system.

Security cameras, controlled locks and shingle replacement for the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District.

A Weldon High School gym roof, athletic field renovations and lighting for Weldon City Schools.

Remount an ambulance, replace a quick response vehicle, fund two full-time dispatchers, replace the fire marshal vehicle and transition to Office 365 for email.

It would leave $82,799 available for other uses.

Option 2 would use $2,246,500 of fund balance and reduce the account to 13.5 percent.

It would allow for additional school current expense funding for a utility increase of $127,027 and teacher supplements budgeted for a total $431,000.

It would leave $179,830 to use elsewhere.

Option 3 would use $2,464,853 of fund balance and reduce the account to 13 percent. It would fund the same items as Option 2, but would leave $398,183 for use elsewhere.

Option 4 would use $2,901,558 of fund balance and reduce the account to 12 percent.

It would leave $834,888 for use elsewhere.

The options with tax increase proposal

Option 5 uses $2,246,500 of fund balance. It includes a 1-cent tax increase that would generate an additional $300,000.

It would allow for an employee pay for performance plan and leave $101,830 for use elsewhere.

Option 6 uses the same fund balance amount as Option 5 but proposes a 2-cent tax increase that would generate an additional $600,000.

It would fund the same items as Option 5 and a 2 percent increase for an employee competitive market adjustment.

It leaves $91,830 for use elsewhere.

Option 7 uses $2,464,853 of fund balance coupled with a 2-cent tax increase.

It would allow for a 3 percent increase for an employee competitive market adjustment and leave $155,183 for use elsewhere.

Option 8 uses the same fund balance withdrawal as Option 7 but implements a 2 ½ -cent tax increase. The 2 ½-cent tax increase would fund the same items as Option 7 but would leave $305,183 for use elsewhere.

Further discussion

The revaluation forced an out-of-the-ordinary planning situation for the proposed budget, Brown said. “It's something that has never happened in Halifax County. Typically, values go up. We're in an anomaly.”

Board members made no decision and will discuss the budget further at a work session next Monday night, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the board room of the Historic Courthouse in Halifax.

“I would like to have the opportunity to sit down with this for a while and come back next week,” Commissioner Carolyn Johnson said.

Said Commissioner Patrick Qualls: “I do want to study it.”