GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1995 SESSION

CHAPTER 434
SENATE BILL 752

AN ACT TO CLARIFY THE AUTHORITY OF COUNTIES THAT HAVE PROTECTED MOUNTAIN RIDGES TO ESTABLISH COUNTY SERVICE DISTRICTS TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN ROAD NEEDS OF THE DISTRICT AND TO ALLOW UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES THE MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC ROADS LYING OUTSIDE THE DISTRICT.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 153A-301(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	The board of commissioners of a county that contains a protected mountain ridge, as defined by G.S. 113A-206(6), may define any number of service districts, composed of subdivision lots within one or more contiguous subdivisions that are served by common public roads, to finance for the district the maintenance of such public roads that are either located in the district or provide access to some or all lots in the district from a State road, where some portion of those roads is not subject to compliance with the minimum standards of the Board of Transportation set forth in G.S. 136-102.6.  The service district or districts created shall include only subdivision lots within the subdivision, and one or more additional contiguous subdivisions, where the property owners' association, whose purpose is to represent these subdivision lots, agrees to be included in the service district.  For subdivision lots in an additional contiguous subdivision or for other adjacent or contiguous property to be annexed according to G.S. 153A-303, the property owners' association representing the subdivision or property to be annexed must approve the annexation. For the purposes of this subsection: (i) 'subdivision lots' are defined as either separate tracts appearing of record upon a recorded plat, or other lots, building sites, or divisions of land for sale or building development for residential purposes; and (ii)  'public roads' are defined as roads that are in actual open use as public vehicular areas, or dedicated or offered for dedication to the public use as a road, highway, street, or avenue, by a deed, grant, map, or plat, and that have been constructed and are in use by the public, but that are not currently being maintained by any public authority."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 136-98 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136-98.  Prohibition of local road taxes and bonds and construction of roads by local authorities; existing contracts.
(a)	From and after the first day of July, 1931, no county or road district by authority of any public, public-local, or private act shall levy any taxes for the maintenance, improvement, reconstruction, or construction of any of the public roads in the various and several counties of the State, nor shall any county, through the board of commissioners thereof or the highway commission, nor shall any district or township highway commission, issue or sell or enter into any contract to issue or sell any bonds heretofore authorized to be issued and sold, but unissued and unsold, for the purpose of obtaining money with which to improve, maintain, reconstruct, or construct roads, except for the purpose of discharging obligations entered into prior to the ratification of this section, and all acts authorizing the board of county commissioners, the county highway commissions, district highway or township commissions, to issue and sell bonds for the purpose aforesaid, are hereby amended so as to conform to this section. No board of county commissioners nor county highway commission, nor district nor township highway commission from and after the passage of this section shall enter into any contract to build or construct roads in the various and several counties except for such projects as can be completed and paid for prior to July 1, 1931. All contracts heretofore entered into by any county through the  board of county commissioners, county highway commission, and all contracts heretofore entered into by any district or township highway commission which shall be incomplete on July 1, 1931, shall be taken over by the Department of Transportation and completed by the Department of Transportation by the use of money and funds applicable thereto, by the terms of the said contracts. Nothing in this section or in any section of Chapter 145 of the Public Laws of 1931 that may appear in this Code shall be construed to prohibit the levying of taxes authorized by law for the payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds or other evidences of debt lawfully issued. Any county or road district which has heretofore issued bonds or other evidences of debt by authority of law for road improvement purposes may refund said bonds or other evidences of debt under and pursuant to the laws of the State of North Carolina relative thereto.
(b)	Nothing in this Article prohibits counties from establishing service districts for road maintenance under Part 1, Article 16 of Chapter 153A of the General Statutes."
Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 13th day of July, 1995.

─────────────────── 
Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

─────────────────── 
Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives