AN ACT appropriating funds to establish salary schedules for state employees serving as youth court counselors, Youth services behavioral specialists, youth counselors, and youth counselor technicians in the division of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Reserve for Compensation Increases for the 2023‑2025 fiscal biennium the sum of eleven million seven hundred fifty‑eight thousand two hundred twenty‑five dollars ($11,758,225) for the 2023‑2024 fiscal year and the sum of eleven million nine hundred two thousand six hundred thirty‑three dollars ($11,902,633) for the 2024‑2025 fiscal year for the costs associated with implementing the legislatively mandated compensation increases authorized by this act.

SECTION 2.(a)  Youth Court Counselors in the Department of Public Safety, Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, shall be compensated based on the employee's respective work experience pursuant to the salary schedule in subsection (b) of this section.

SECTION 2.(b)  The following annual salary schedule applies under subsection (a) of this section for each year of the 2023‑2025 fiscal biennium, effective July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024, for each respective fiscal year:

Years Experience                           FY 2023‑24        FY 2024‑25

0                                              44,152                45,256

1                                              45,256                46,387

2                                              47,519                48,707

3                                              50,370                51,629

4                                              54,399                55,759

5                                              58,207                59,662

6+                                            62,282                63,839

SECTION 2.(c)  If a Youth Court Counselor will not receive a salary increase during the fiscal year because the employee's salary exceeds the scheduled salary level, then the employee shall receive an annual increase equal to the amount of the across‑the‑board legislative salary increase authorized for the fiscal year.

SECTION 3.(a)  State employees serving as Youth Counselor Technicians (YCT), Youth Services Behavioral Specialists (YSBS), and Youth Counselors (YC) in the Department of Public Safety, Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, shall be compensated at a specific pay rate on the basis of a salary schedule determined according to the duration of the employee's work experience.

SECTION 3.(b)  The following annual salary schedule applies under subsection (a) of this section for each year of the 2023‑2025 fiscal biennium, effective for each year on July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024, respectively:

FY 2023‑24                                                   FY 2024‑25

Years

Experience    YCT            YSBS            YC              YCT               YSBS            YC

0                   36,301          37,000          42,000          37,209             37,925          43,050

1                   37,753          38,480          44,520          38,697             39,442          45,633

2                   40,018          40,789          47,191          41,019             41,809          48,371

3                   42,019          43,236          50,495          43,070             44,317          51,757

4                   44,120          45,398          54,029          45,223             46,533          55,380

5                   46,326          48,122          57,271          47,484             49,325          58,703

6+                 48,642          50,528          60,707          49,858             51,791          62,225

SECTION 3.(c)  If an employee subject to this salary schedule will not receive a salary increase during the fiscal year because the employee's salary exceeds the scheduled salary level, then the employee shall receive an annual increase equal to the amount of the across‑the‑board legislative salary increase authorized for the fiscal year.

SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2023.