GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2023

SESSION LAW 2024-38

HOUSE BILL 593

AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  A motor vehicle combination operated on a designated road in violation of subsection (a) or subsection (b) of G.S. 20‑115.1 is subject to the axle‑group weight penalties set in G.S. 20‑118(e). The penalties apply to the amount by which the motor vehicle combination Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) exceeds 20,000 pounds.

SECTION 1.(b)  For purposes of this act, the term designated road is U.S. Route 64 between State Road 1533 and N.C. Highway 106 in Macon County.

SECTION 1.(c)  This section applies only to Macon County.

SECTION 1.(d)  This section becomes effective December 1, 2024, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 130A‑50 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(h)      For purposes of the election of the members of the sanitary district board, a sanitary district board shall adopt single‑member residency districts in which only a person residing in a single‑member residency district shall be eligible as a candidate in the election for the seat apportioned to that single‑member residency district, but candidates shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the entire sanitary district. The district boundaries shall be established by resolution adopted by the sanitary district board following a public hearing on the matter. The resolution, and a copy of a map depicting the single‑member residency districts as adopted, shall be filed with the county board of elections. The most recent federal decennial census data shall be used as the sole basis of population for the establishment of the single‑member residency districts. The single‑member residency districts shall be revised after the return of each federal decennial census as necessary. Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, members of a sanitary district board under this subsection shall serve staggered four‑year terms and the staggering shall be taken into consideration when adopting or revising the single‑member residency districts. This subsection shall apply only to a sanitary district lying wholly within a county with more than 17 municipalities lying wholly within that county.

SECTION 2.(b)  A sanitary district board subject to G.S. 130A‑50(h), as enacted by this act, shall adopt a resolution establishing single‑member residency district boundaries as required by G.S. 130A‑50(h), as enacted by this act, not later than December 1, 2024. The residency district boundaries so established shall remain in effect until after the return of the 2030 federal decennial census, at which time the residency district boundaries shall be revised in accordance with G.S. 130A‑50(h), as enacted by this act.

SECTION 2.(c)  This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to elections held in 2025 and thereafter.

SECTION 3.  Section 4.2(h) of S.L. 2024‑1 reads as rewritten:

SECTION 4.2.(h)  Funds allocated to the City of Saluda and the Towns of Columbus and Tryon by Section 12.2(e)(161) of S.L. 2023‑134 shall, notwithstanding that subdivision or any provision of the Committee Report described in Section 43.2 of S.L. 2023‑134 to the contrary, be transferred to the Office of State Budget and Management to provide a grant to the City of Saluda and the Towns of Columbus and Tryon for the repayment of debt incurred by the City for construction of a water or wastewater project.

SECTION 4.(a)  Article 2 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

§ 130A‑70.2.  Extension of district boundaries to include all of a municipality.

(a)        Notwithstanding G.S. 130A‑69, 130A‑70, and 130A‑70.1, a sanitary district board may extend the boundaries of the sanitary district to include all of the contiguous corporate areas of any municipality adopting a resolution requesting inclusion into the sanitary district. The sanitary district board shall conduct a public hearing on the matter as soon as practicable upon receipt of the resolution from the municipality. The sanitary district boundaries, if expanded, shall be established by resolution by the sanitary district board after the public hearing on the matter.

(b)        The effective date of the sanitary district boundary change under this section shall be determined by the sanitary district board and shall coincide with the start of a fiscal or calendar year.

(c)        Upon expansion of the sanitary district boundaries in accordance with this section, the sanitary district board shall file a copy of the resolution and a map of the new sanitary district boundaries, with the county board of elections.

SECTION 4.(b)  This section is effective when it becomes law, and applies to any resolution from a municipality received by a sanitary district board on or after January 1, 2024.

SECTION 5.(a)  Notwithstanding the Committee Report described in Section 43.2 of S.L. 2021‑180 or any other provision of law to the contrary, the Office of State Budget and Management shall reallocate the grant to Duplin County for the Emergency Management Facility in the sum of seven million dollars ($7,000,000) for the 2021‑2022 fiscal year to the Duplin County for grants as follows:

(1)        One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) to be used to construct a new Senior Resource Center and Veterans' Services building for the Duplin County Services for the Aged.

(2)        Five million five hundred thousand dollars ($5,500,000) to be used for the construction of a co‑located sheriff's office and detention center.

SECTION 5.(b)  This section becomes effective June 30, 2024.

SECTION 6.(a)  The State of North Carolina shall convey to the City of Monroe, for consideration of one dollar ($1.00), all its rights, titles, and interests in the former quarry bounded by Quarry Road and the railroad tracks in Monroe, North Carolina, identified by Union County Parcel Identification Numbers 09152002, in whole, and 09191002, in part, consisting of approximately 61.95 acres held by the North Carolina State Highway Commission.

SECTION 6.(b)  The State of North Carolina shall convey the real property described in subsection (a) of this section as is and where is without warranty. The State makes no representations or warranties concerning the title to the property, the boundaries of the property, the uses to which the property may be put, zoning, local ordinances, or any physical, environmental, health, and safety conditions relating to the property. All costs associated with the conveyance of the property shall be borne by the City of Monroe.

SECTION 6.(c)  The conveyance of the State's rights, titles, and interests in the real property described in subsection (a) of this section shall be exempt from the provisions of Article 7 of Chapter 146 of the General Statutes. The conveyance shall comply with the provisions of Article 16 of Chapter 146 of the General Statutes, provided that the provisions of G.S. 146‑74 shall not apply.

SECTION 7.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 28th day of June, 2024.

                                                                    s/  Phil Berger

                                                                         President Pro Tempore of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Tim Moore

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Roy Cooper

                                                                         Governor

Approved 4:52 p.m. this 8th day of July, 2024