It is a $40,757,424 financial plan which calls for a 5-cent tax increase to fund construction of the new Manning Elementary School, County Manager Tony Brown said in his budget message to the board.

Brown did not steer away from the prepared budget message until the very end, explaining how the proposed tax rate increase for the next fiscal year will affect a homeowner.

The owner of a $100,000 home under the proposed 78 cents per $100 tax rate would have a tax bill of $780, which represents a $50 increase over the present 73 cents tax rate.

Highlights of the budget message included:

The county did have some growth this year in property taxes but no growth in sales taxes over last year.

Debt service on the new Manning Elementary School will average $1.5 million over 15 years.

(The proposed budget is available as a PDF at the end of this story. It is also available for inspection at the county manager's office located at the Historic Courthouse in Halifax, the five libraries in the county or by visiting the county's website. A public hearing on the proposed financial plan will be held June 6 at 9:30 a.m. in the board room of the Historic Courthouse)

With the current collections rate, a 1-cent property tax rate increase generates $300,000.

To cover the Manning debt service for the $1.5 million, a tax increase of 5 cents is needed and the tax increase will be retired upon pay-off.

In addition to normal operations the proposed budget provides:

County full-time employee bonuses of $500.

Halifax Community College capital outlay of $204,100.

Halifax County Schools capital outlay of $262,000.

Roanoke Rapids Graded Schools capital outlay of $265,000.

Weldon City Schools capital outlay of $280,000.

A heavy-duty two truck for the school systems at $100,000.

Covers additional county government needs of $748,693.

Supports $231,000 in outside requests.

Meanwhile today, commissioners approved the capital project budget ordinance for the Manning school construction.

The breakdown of the $19,300,000 to build the school is as follows:

Revenues

$18,100,000 in loan proceeds from BB&T.

$200,000 in public school building capital funds.

$1,000,000 from the county's general fund.

Expenses

$17,328,356 construction cost.

$1,451,355 engineering, design and permitting.

$100,000 legal.

$250,000 administrative.

$170,289 contingency.