Democratic leaders at the Legislature wrapped up a $21.3 billion final budget plan Thursday that delays two tax breaks in order to please Gov. Mike Easley and authorizes borrowing more than $850 million on state construction projects.

Save for tinkering with some technical language, House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight said a deal had been reached after two weeks of negotiations. The first of two required votes in each chamber could occur as early as Monday night.

"We made some tough decisions that had to be made," Basnight, D-Dare, told reporters.

Easley complained last week that the budget needed an additional $45 million in savings for the new year because tax collections were off by an estimated $70 million in May and June.

So the chambers sprinkled spending cuts through the budget and put off until 2010 the elimination of the state gift tax and the expansion of a refundable tax credit for the working poor.

The tax delays saved $30 million. Lawmakers also reduced further projections for existing tax revenues for the coming year due to the slowing economy to try to satisfy Easley, according to Hackney and a spokesman for Basnight.

Legislative leaders had been skeptical about the size of the needed cost savings demanded by Easley.

"We think the budget is balanced. We know it's balanced without any of that but we're trying to work with the governor's concerns," said Hackney, D-Orange. "We know that it's a time of economic uncertainty."

Easley budget adviser Dan Gerlach didn't immediately respond to the budget deal, saying the governor would have to review the details. Easley, a Democrat who leaves office in January, has never vetoed a state budget bill. He said this week he would not sign a budget that is not balanced.

"I believe he is going to be very happy," Basnight said.

But the spending plan provided less than Easley sought for his signature More at Four preschool initiative - $30 million extra instead of the $45 million he wanted.

And the chambers decided against a provision that would have given the governor power to use any surplus money toward raising teacher salaries beyond the average 3 percent raises to which the House and Senate agreed.

Negotiators did raise slightly the pay increase for new teachers to keep the raise on par with rank-and-file state employees. Other state workers would get the greater of a 2.75 percent increase or $1,100.

The bill authorizes $857 million in borrowing over the next four years - more than either the House or Senate suggested in their versions of the budget approved last month - for prison additions and construction buildings on University of North Carolina system campuses and for state agencies.

None of the borrowing requires statewide voter approval. Lawmakers have increasingly relied on this type of debt since 2000 to create a building boom throughout state government. Another $109 million in construction projects would be paid using cash.

Basnight said the projects will create upwards of 20,000 jobs and help prepare for an expected influx of UNC system students as the state's population increases.

"It's a stimulus package for the state to get these buildings going," Basnight said.

Some of the borrowing - $107 million - will originate by essentially taking out new loans based on a portion of bonds that recently have been paid off, according to lawmakers. That should lessen the impact on how much the state pays in debt service.

The spending plan provides more money for the public schools, including $35 million for diesel fuel for school buses and $90 million for teacher performance bonuses. But each amount is less than the State Board of Education said was needed to take care of both.

The final budget, which likely will be approved since Democrats control both chambers, would increase overall spending by less than half of the 9-10 percent growth in the budget over the past two years. That's largely because the state had a revenue surplus of less than $100 million during the fiscal year ending June 30, compared to more than $1 billion two years ago.

Hackney said the budget "in tough times still keeps us moving in North Carolina in a number of ways and preserves our fiscal stability and adjusts to the economic times."

The new fiscal year began Tuesday, but state government continues to operate since the spending plan only adjusts the second year of a two-year budget passed last summer.