Lower tax rates part of new budget
By John Peters
Editor
The Halifax County Board of Commissioners on Monday adopted a $40 million budget for fiscal year 2007-2008, representing a 4 percent increase over the current budget.
Although total county expenditures will rise only slightly, some tax payers living in the Lake Gaston region of the county may find they are footing a higher percentage of the bill despite a 21 percent drop in the real estate tax rate.
The new tax rate is 68 cents per $100 of assessed value, a steep drop from the former rate of 86.5 cent. The reason for the drop, however, is that the county completed a reassessment of real estate property in 2006, with the new values taking effect this year.
Because the county had not done a reassessment in eight years, some property values – particularly those on and around the lake – more than doubled.Property in some other parts of the county saw only a slight increase in the assessed value.
“Some people around the lake could be paying quite a bit more,” said County Manager Matthew Delk. “If your property only went up a little bit (in the re-evaluation), you could be paying less (in taxes). It’s all dependent on the individual evaluation.”
The budget also includes a 3 percent across the board cost of living raise for county employees.
Delk said this is the first time in two or three years the county has shown an overall growth in spending. He also said that the county continues to struggle some as a result of having to pay a portion of area residents Medicaid costs.

For Halifax County, more than a third of its general budget goes to this one line item, despite some limited relief the General Assembly has given over the past year. North Carolina is the only state in the nation that requires counties to pay this, and county officials have continued to lobby the General Assembly to take on this cost as a state expense.
As for the overall budget, Delk said the new spending plan takes effect with the start of the new fiscal year, on July 1.
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Jun 20, 2007
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