GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

 

 

SESSION LAW 2012-156

SENATE BILL 426

 

 

AN ACT to make clarifications and modifications to the public finance statutes of north carolina for the improvement of various financing structures and the terms and provisions of the financing structures and to authorize a resolution ESTABLISHING a municipal service district to become effective upon a date specified in the resolution if special OBLIGATION bonds are ANTICIPATED to be authorized for a project.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

SECTION 1.  G.S. 159-28(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       Incurring Obligations. - No obligation may be incurred in a program, function, or activity accounted for in a fund included in the budget ordinance unless the budget ordinance includes an appropriation authorizing the obligation and an unencumbered balance remains in the appropriation sufficient to pay in the current fiscal year the sums obligated by the transaction for the current fiscal year. No obligation may be incurred for a capital project or a grant project authorized by a project ordinance unless that project ordinance includes an appropriation authorizing the obligation and an unencumbered balance remains in the appropriation sufficient to pay the sums obligated by the transaction. If an obligation is evidenced by a contract or agreement requiring the payment of money or by a purchase order for supplies and materials, the contract, agreement, or purchase order shall include on its face a certificate stating that the instrument has been preaudited to assure compliance with this subsection. subsection unless the obligation or a document related to the obligation has been approved by the Local Government Commission, in which case no certificate shall be required. The certificate, which shall be signed by the finance officer or any deputy finance officer approved for this purpose by the governing board, shall take substantially the following form:

"This instrument has been preaudited in the manner required by the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act.

___________________________________

(Signature of finance officer)."

Certificates in the form prescribed by G.S. 153-130 or 160-411 as those sections read on June 30, 1973, or by G.S. 159-28(b) as that section read on June 30, 1975, are sufficient until supplies of forms in existence on June 30, 1975, are exhausted.

An obligation incurred in violation of this subsection is invalid and may not be enforced. The finance officer shall establish procedures to assure compliance with this subsection."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 159-54 reads as rewritten:

"§ 159-54.  The bond order.

After or at the same time the application is filed and accepted for submission to with the Commission, a bond order shall be introduced before the governing board of the issuing unit. The bond order shall state:

(1)        Briefly and generally and without specification of location or material of construction, the purpose for which the bonds are to be issued, but not more than one purpose may be stated. For funding or refunding bonds a brief description of the debt, judgment, or obligation to be funded or refunded shall be sufficient.

(2)        The maximum aggregate principal amount of the bonds.

(3)        That taxes will be levied in an amount sufficient to pay the  principal and interest of the bonds.

(4)        The extent, if any, to which utility or enterprise revenues are, or may be, pledged to payment of interest on and principal of the bonds pursuant to G.S. 159-47.

(5)        That a sworn statement of debt has been filed with the clerk  and is open to public inspection.

(6)        If the bonds are to be approved by the voters, that the bond  order will take effect when approved by the voters.

(7)        If the bonds are issued pursuant to G.S. 159-48(a)(1), (2), (3), or (5), that the bond order will take effect upon its adoption. If the bonds are to be issued pursuant to G.S. 159-48(a)(4), (6), or (7) or G.S. 159-48(b), (c), or (d) and are not to be submitted to the voters, that the bond order will take effect 30 days after its publication following adoption, unless it is petitioned to a vote of the people as provided in G.S. 159-60, and that in that event the order will take effect when approved by the voters.

When the bond order is introduced, the board shall fix the time and place for a public hearing thereon."

SECTION 3.  G.S. 159-88(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)       At any time after an application is filed with the Commission approves an application for the issuance of revenue bonds, (i) in the case of the State, the Council of State and (ii) in the case of a municipality, the governing board of the municipality may adopt a revenue bond order pursuant to this Article."

SECTION 4.  G.S. 160A-537(d) reads as rewritten:

"(d)      Effective Date. - Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, theThe resolution defining a service district shall take effect at the beginning of a fiscal year commencing after its passage, as determined by the city council, except that if council. If the governing body in the resolution states that general obligation bonds or special obligation bonds are anticipated to be authorized for the project, it may make the resolution effective immediately upon its adoption, butadoption or as otherwise provided in the resolution. However, no ad valorem tax may be levied for a partial fiscal year."

SECTION 5.  If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect the other provisions or applications of this act that can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

SECTION 6.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 28th day of June, 2012.

 

 

                                                                    s/  Walter H. Dalton

                                                                         President of the Senate

 

 

                                                                    s/  Thom Tillis

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

 

 

                                                                    s/  Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         Governor

 

 

Approved 4:15 p.m. this 12th day of July, 2012