GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2013
SESSION LAW 2013-261
HOUSE BILL 468
AN ACT to change the method of election of the mayor and city council members of the city of high point to hold the ELECTIONS in odd-numbered years and by a nonpartisan primary and election method as provided by general law AND TO amend the charter of the town of tryon.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. Section 3.1 of the Charter of the City of High Point, being Chapter 501 of the 1979 Session Laws, as amended by Ordinance Number 86-7 under Part 4 of Article 5 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes and Section 2(a) of S.L. 2006-171, reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 3.1. Method of
election. RegularBeginning with the 2017 election, regular municipal
elections shall be held in the City biennially in even-numbered odd-numbered
years, and shall be conducted in accordance with State law governing
municipal elections. The mayor and members of the council shall be elected by
the nonpartisan plurality primary and election method provided
for in G.S. 163-292.G.S. 163-294."
SECTION 2. If the referendum provided in Section 3 is approved, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 2014 election, the terms of the mayor and council members elected shall be for three years.
SECTION 3. Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective only if approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the City of High Point in a referendum. The election shall be conducted by the appropriate county board(s) of elections in the November 2014 general election. The question on the ballot shall be:
"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST
Beginning in the 2017 election and every two years thereafter, electing the mayor and the city council members by using the nonpartisan primary and election method pursuant to State law, and the mayor and city council members elected at the 2014 election serving a three-year term to expire in 2017."
SECTION 4. The Charter of the Town of Tryon, being Section 1 of Chapter 441 of the 1971 Session Laws, reads as rewritten:
"THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF TRYON
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"ARTICLE III. MAYOR AND BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
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"Sec. 3.2. Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore. The Mayor shall be elected by and from the qualified voters of the Town voting at large in the manner provided in Article IV. The Mayor shall be the official head of the Town government and shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Commissioners. Where there is an equal division on a question, the Mayor shall determine the matter by his or her vote, but he or she shall vote in no other case. The Mayor shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as are or may be conferred upon him or her by the general laws of North Carolina, by this Charter, and by the ordinances of the Town. The Board of Commissioners shall choose one of its number to act as Mayor Pro Tempore, and he or she shall perform the duties of the Mayor in the Mayor's absence or disability. The Mayor Pro Tempore as such shall have no fixed term of office, but shall serve in such capacity at the pleasure of the remaining members of the Board.
"Sec. 3.3. Terms; Qualifications; Vacancies.
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(b) No person shall be eligible to be a candidate or be elected as Mayor or as a member of the Board of Commissioners or to serve in such capacity, unless he or she is a resident and a qualified voter of the Town.
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"ARTICLE V. TOWN MANAGER
"Sec. 5.1. The Board of
Commissioners shall appoint a Town Manager who shall be the administrative head
of the Town government responsible for the supervision and administration of
all departments and employees employees, except the Town Attorney.Attorney
and Town Clerk. Notwithstanding G.S. 160A-148(1), the Board of
Commissioners shall appoint the Town Clerk, but may grant to the Town Manager
the authority to direct and supervise the Town Clerk to the extent and in the
manner deemed appropriate by the Board of Commissioners. The Town Manager
shall be appointed with regard to merit only, and he or she need not be
a resident of the Town at the time of his or her appointment. He or
she shall hold office during the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners and
shall receive such compensation as it shall fix by ordinance.
The Town Manager so appointed shall (1) be the administrative head of the Town government; (2) see that within the Town the laws of the State and the ordinances, resolutions and regulations, of the Board of Commissioners are faithfully executed; (3) attend all meetings of the Board of Commissioners, and recommend for adoption such measures as he or she shall deem expedient; (4) make reports to the Board of Commissioners from time to time upon the affairs of the Town, and keep the Board fully advised of the Town's financial condition and its future financial needs; (5) appoint and remove all employees of the Town, except the Town Attorney and Town Clerk, and all appointments and removals of department heads made by the Manager shall be reported to the Board of Commissioners at its next succeeding meeting; and, (6) perform all other duties as may be required by the Board of Commissioners.
"ARTICLE VI. TOWN ATTORNEY
"Sec. 6.1. Appointment; Qualifications; Term; Compensation. The Board of Commissioners shall appoint a Town Attorney who shall be an attorney at law licensed to engage in the practice of law in North Carolina and who need not be a resident of the Town during his or her tenure. The Town Attorney shall serve at the pleasure of the Board and shall receive such compensation as the Board shall determine.
"Sec. 6.2. Duties of Town Attorney. It shall be the duty of the Town Attorney to prosecute and defend suits for and against the Town; to advise the Mayor, Board of Commissioners, Town Manager, and other Town officials with respect to the affairs of the Town; to draw all legal documents relating to the affairs of the Town; to draw proposed ordinances when requested to do so; to inspect and pass upon all agreements, contracts, franchises and other instruments with which the Town may be concerned; and to perform such other duties as may be required of him or her by virtue of his or her position of Town Attorney.
"ARTICLE VII. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
"Sec. 7.1. Town Clerk. The
Town ManagerNotwithstanding G.S. 160A-148(1), the Board of
Commissioners may appoint a Town Clerk to keep a journal of the proceedings
of the Board of Commissioners and to maintain in a safe place all records and
documents pertaining to the affairs of the Town, and to perform such other
duties as may be required by law or as the Town ManagerBoard may
direct. The Board of Commissioners may grant to the Town Manager the
authority to direct and supervise the Town Clerk to the extent and in the
manner deemed appropriate by the Board of Commissioners.
"Sec. 7.2. Town Tax Collector. The Town Manager may appoint a Tax Collector to collect all taxes, licenses, fees and other moneys belonging to the Town, subject to the provisions of this Charter and the ordinances of the Town, and he or she shall diligently comply with and enforce all the general laws of North Carolina relating to the collection, sale, and foreclosure of taxes by municipalities.
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"Sec. 7.4. Consolidation of Functions. The Town Manager may, with the approval of the Board of Commissioners, consolidate any two or more of the positions of Town Clerk, Town Tax Collector, and Town Accountant, or may assign the functions of any one or more of these positions to the holder or holders of any other of these positions. The Town Manager may also, with the approval of the Board of Commissioners, himself or herself perform all or any part of the functions of any of the named offices, in lieu of appointing other persons to perform the same.
"ARTICLE VIII. FINANCE
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"Sec. 8.2. Independent
Audit. As soon as practicable after the close of each fiscal year, an
independent audit shall be made of all books and accounts of the Town
government as provided in G.S. 159-34 by a certified public
accountant or a qualified public accountant registered certified under
Chapter 93 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, who shall have no
personal interest directly or indirectly in the affairs of the Town or of any
of its officers. The Board of Commissioners shall select the public accountant,
and the results of such audit shall be made available for inspection by any
interested citizen of the Town, and may be published if so ordered by the Board
of Commissioners.
"ARTICLE IX. ZONING
"The Town of Tryon
Planning and Adjustment Board shall be comprised of seven members and two
alternates. The Board of Commissioners shall appoint four members and one
alternate who shall be residents of the Town. The Board of Commissioners of
Polk County shall appoint five three members and one alternate who
shall be residents of the area outside of and within one mile of the corporate
limits of the Town of Tryon, to serve as members of the Town Planning Board,
and five residents of such area to serve as members of the Town Zoning Board of
Adjustment.Tryon. Such The members appointed by the
Board of Commissioners of Polk County shall have equal rights and
privileges with the other members of such Boardsthe Board in all
matters pertaining to the planning and zoning of the territory outside of and
within one mile of the corporate limits of the Town. The concurring vote of eight
members eighty percent (80%) of the Zoning Board of AdjustmentPlanning
and Adjustment Board shall be necessary in order to reverse any order,
requirement, decision, or determination of any administrative official with
respect to the territory outside of and within one mile of the corporate limits
of the Town.
The Board of Commissioners may require that, prior to the beginning of any construction, reconstruction or alteration of any building or structure located within the extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction, a permit be obtained from the Town. The permit shall be issued if the proposed construction, reconstruction or alteration complies with the provisions of the zoning ordinance and map.
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"ARTICLE XII. WATER AND SEWER
"Sec. 12.1. Alternative Methods of Assessment. In addition to, and as alternatives, to the method provided in G.S. 160-241 for assessing the costs of water and sewer lines and laterals, the Board of Commissioners, if in its opinion it would be more equitable to do so, is hereby authorized in its discretion to levy any such assessments according to either of the following methods: (1) equally against each of the lots capable of being served by such line or lines, or (2) on the basis of the footage of land upon a public street by an equal rate per foot of such frontage.
In lieu of assessing the total cost of a particular project as herein provided, the governing body may annually, between the first days of January and July of each year, determine the average cost of installing water and sewer mains or lines and on the basis of such determination may make assessments of such average cost during the following fiscal year beginning July 1. The average cost of such installation shall include the cost of the particular size and material of lines completed during the preceding calendar year. It may also include the anticipated increase in labor and materials costs based upon the average of such increases during the preceding five calendar years. The assessment of the average cost of such line shall not be made until after the particular assessment project has been completed. The purpose of this Section is to distribute more equitably the cost of the installation of water and sewer lines throughout the Town; to permit a property owner to know in advance what the cost of installation of water and sewer lines benefiting his or her property will be; and to permit the most expeditious assessment of cost against property after completion of the installation of such lines. The actual cost of acquisition of rights-of-way may also be assessed as a part of the cost of an individual project. If the right-of-way costs have not been determined and assessed with the assessment of the average installation costs at the time of the completion of the project, such costs may be assessed separately when they are determined.
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"ARTICLE XIII. REFUSE, WEEDS, AND TRASH
"Sec. 13.1. Property Kept Free of Offensive Matter. It shall be the duty of every property owner in the Town to keep his or her property free from noxious weeds, trash, and all other forms of offensive animal or vegetable matter or refuse which may be dangerous or prejudicial to the public health or which may constitute a public nuisance.
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SECTION 5. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 11th day of July, 2013.
s/ Daniel J. Forest
President of the Senate
s/ Thom Tillis
Speaker of the House of Representatives