North Carolina § 115C-422 - Short title.

§ 115C-422. Short title.

This Article may be cited as "The School Budget and Fiscal Control Act." History (1975, c. 437, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2016-116, s. 3, provides: "The Program Evaluation Division shall conduct a comprehensive study of the procedure set forth in Article 31 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes for resolving education funding disputes between local boards of education and boards of county commissioners. The study shall, at a minimum, include the following: "(1) A historical review of education capital and current expense funding requests made by local boards of education and the amounts appropriated by county commissioners to fund education needs. "(2) An examination of yearly encumbered and unencumbered fund balances held by local boards of education and county commissions. This examination shall include how fund balances have been used by local boards of education during and after the Great Recession. "(3) An analysis of the use of fund balances by local boards of education and county commissions to pay for required expenses prior to the receipt of periodic revenue, including, but not limited to, cash flow. "(4) An evaluation of the current process, including how often mediation and litigation have been used to resolve education funding disputes and the total amount of taxpayer dollars spent to mediate and litigate such disputes. "(5) An analysis of how the current process impacts county budgeting procedures and relationships between local boards of education and boards of county commissioners. "(6) An examination of states where local boards of education are fiscally dependent upon other local governments and how those states resolve funding disputes. "(7) An examination of alternative ways for local boards of education to receive local funds. "(8) Recommendations for alternative ways to resolve education funding disputes or modifications to the current process. "The Program Evaluation Division shall report its findings and recommendations to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee no later than May 1, 2017. All State departments and agencies, local governments, local boards of education, and their subdivisions shall provide any necessary information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them to the Program Evaluation Division to complete this review and study." Session Laws 2018-2, s. 1(a)-(e), effective January 25, 2018, provides: "(a) Purpose. - The purpose of this section is to ensure that the local school administrative units (school units) located, in whole or in part, in the counties directly impacted by placement of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) within their respective jurisdictions shall receive the benefit of any funds provided or gifted for the benefit of the State or the people of the State as a result of the ACP. In addition, the General Assembly finds that compensatory mitigation payments for proposed impacts to streams, buffers, and wetlands in those areas were assessed under the 401 Certification issued by the Department of Environmental Quality to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, on January 26, 2018. "(b) Memorandum of Understanding. - The Mitigation Project Memorandum of Understanding by and between Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina, in his Official Capacity and Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, dated January 25, 2018, (MOU) purports to provide funding in the form of a gift, voluntary contribution, or otherwise (funds) to be used for (i) mitigation for the unavoidable effects of the ACP on the interior forest habitats, open-space lands, waterbodies, and natural resources of the communities along the ACP's route; (ii) support and funding for economic development in the counties that would be impacted by the ACP; and (iii) extension of renewable energy projects into certain local communities which may stand to be affected by the ACP's operation. Notwithstanding the terms of the MOU, the allocation of funds to State and local entities, officers, or officials falls within the purview of the General Assembly; and, therefore, the General Assembly authorizes the acceptance of these funds only if the requirements of this section are met. "(c) Required School Unit Allocation. - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a state or local entity, officer, or official acting within an official capacity may accept, direct the use of, or otherwise participate in directing the disbursement of the funds received pursuant to the MOU, or any successive contract or document evidencing an intent to agree that funds be used for the benefit of the State or the people of the State for effects of the ACP, only if the school units located, in whole or in part, in counties through which the ACP runs are the sole recipients of these funds. Of the funds received, one-half shall be allocated among the school units based on the allotted average daily membership for the 2017-2018 fiscal year as determined and certified by the State Board of Education (ADM) as follows: the ADM allocation to a school unit is equal to one-half of the total amount of the funds multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the ADM of the school unit located in the county through which the ACP runs and the denominator of which is the ADM of all school units located in all counties through which the ACP in the State runs. The remaining funds shall be allocated among the school units based on linear ACP miles as follows: the linear ACP miles allocation to a school unit is equal to the remainder of the total amount of the funds multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the linear miles of the ACP in the county in which the school unit is located and the denominator of which is the total linear miles of the ACP in the State. If more than one school unit is located in a county through which the ACP runs, the linear ACP miles allocation for that county shall be allocated among the school units pro rata based on ADM. "(d) Reports. - Each school unit receiving funds pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall report to the Department of Public Instruction on funds received within 10 days of receipt of the funds. The Department of Public Instruction shall collate all reports required by this section and remit the collated information to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations quarterly. The first submission of collated information shall be remitted no later than September 1, 2018, and the school units shall continue to report, and the Department shall continue to remit the collated information until the Department certifies that all funds governed by the MOU have been received by the school units. "(e) No Conflict. - The legislative power of the State is vested in the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina. The Legislature must declare the policy of the law, fix legal principles which are to control in given cases, and provide standards for guidance in executing the law. The Governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Therefore, nothing in this section shall be construed, or is intended, to (i) be in conflict with the rights of any person or any mandatory provision of federal law or to infringe on the constitutional powers of the Governor to execute the laws of this State or (ii) preclude or supersede any mitigation agreement entered into under applicable State or federal law."