North Carolina § 115D-31 - State financial support of institutions.

§ 115D-31. State financial support of institutions.

The State Board of Community Colleges shall be responsible for providing, from sources available to the State Board, funds to meet the financial needs of institutions, as determined by policies and regulations of the State Board, for the following budget items: Plant Fund. - Furniture and equipment for administrative and instructional purposes, library books, and other items of capital outlay approved by the State Board. Provided, the State Board may, on an equal matching-fund basis from appropriations made by the State for the purpose, grant funds to individual institutions for the purchase of land, construction and remodeling of institutional buildings determined by the State Board to be necessary for the instructional programs or administration of such institutions. For the purpose of determining amount of matching State funds, local funds shall include expenditures made prior to the enactment of this Chapter or prior to an institution becoming a community college pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, when such expenditures were made for the purchase of land, construction, and remodeling of institutional buildings subsequently determined by the State Board to be necessary as herein specified, and provided such local expenditures have not previously been used as the basis for obtaining matching State funds under the provisions of this Chapter or any other laws of the State. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, G.S. 116-53(b), or G.S. 143C-4-5, appropriations by the State of North Carolina for capital or permanent improvements for community colleges may be matched with any prior expenditure of non-State funds for capital construction or land acquisition not already used for matching purposes. Current Operating Expenses: General administration. - Salaries and other costs as determined by the State Board necessary to carry out the functions of general administration. Instructional services. - Salaries and other costs as determined by the State Board necessary to carry out the functions of instructional services. Support services. - Salaries and other costs as determined by the State Board necessary to carry out the functions of support services. Additional Support for Regional Institutions as Defined in G.S. 115D-2(4). - Matching funds to be used with local funds to meet the financial needs of the regional institutions for the items set out in G.S. 115D-32(a)(2)a. Amount of matching funds to be provided by the State under this section shall be determined as follows: The population of the administrative area in which the regional institution is located shall be called the "local factor," the combined populations of all other counties served by the institution shall be called the "State factor." When the budget for the items listed in G.S. 115D-32(a)(2)a has been approved under the procedures set out in G.S. 115D-45, the administrative area in which the regional institution is located shall provide a percentage to be determined by dividing the local factor by the sum of the local factor and the State factor. The State shall provide a percentage of the necessary funds to meet this budget, the percentage to be determined by dividing the State factor by the sum of the local factor and the State factor. If the local administrative area provides less than its proportionate share, the amount of State funds provided shall be reduced by the same proportion as were the administrative area funds. The State Board is authorized to accept, receive, use, or reallocate to the institutions any federal funds or aids that have been or may be appropriated by the government of the United States for the encouragement and improvement of any phase of the programs of the institutions. A local community college may use all State funds allocated to it, except for Literacy funds and Customized Training funds, for any authorized purpose that is consistent with the college's Institutional Effectiveness Plan. The State Board of Community Colleges may authorize a local community college to use up to twenty percent (20%) of the State Literacy funds allocated to it to provide employability skills, job-specific occupational and technical skills, and developmental education instruction to students concurrently enrolled in an eligible community college literacy course. State funds appropriated to the State Board of Community Colleges for equipment and library books, except for funds appropriated to the Equipment Reserve Fund, shall revert to the General Fund 12 months after the close of the fiscal year for which they were appropriated. Encumbered balances outstanding at the end of each period shall be handled in accordance with existing State budget policies. The System Office shall identify to the Office of State Budget and Management the funds that revert at the end of the 12 months after the close of the fiscal year. State funds appropriated to the State Board of Community Colleges for the Equipment Reserve Fund shall be allocated to institutions in accordance with the equipment allocation formula for the fiscal period. An institution to which these funds are allocated shall spend the funds only in accordance with an equipment acquisition plan developed by the institution and approved by the State Board. If receipts for community college tuition and fees exceed the amount certified in General Fund Codes at the end of a fiscal year, the State Board of Community Colleges shall transfer the amount of receipts and fees above those budgeted to the Enrollment Growth Reserve. Funds in the Enrollment Growth Reserve shall not revert to the General Fund and shall remain available to the State Board until expended. The State Board may allocate funds in this reserve to colleges experiencing an enrollment increase greater than five percent (5%) of budgeted enrollment levels. Wherever the word "population" is used in this subdivision, it shall mean the population of the particular area in accordance with the latest United States census. Each local community college shall include in its Institutional Effectiveness Plan a section on how funding flexibility allows the college to meet the demands of the local community and to maintain a presence in all previously funded categorical programs. These funds shall not revert and shall remain available until expended in accordance with an approved plan. History (1963, c. 448, s. 23; 1973, c. 590, ss. 2, 3; c. 637, s. 1; 1979, c. 462, s. 2; c. 896, s. 13; c. 946, s. 1; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1130, s. 1; 1981, c. 157, s. 2; 1985, c. 757, s. 146; 1987, c. 564, ss. 9, 12; 1995, c. 324, s. 16; 1998-212, s. 10.2(a); 1999-84, s. 11; 1999-237, s. 9.3(a); 2000-140, s. 93.1(a); 2001-424, s. 12.2(b); 2006-203, s. 38; 2010-31, s. 8.2; 2011-145, s. 8.4; 2015-241, s. 10.2(b).) Local Modification. - (As to subsection (b1)) Stanly Community College: 2017-57, s. 9.15(a). Cross References. - As to budgeting, accounting and fiscal management, see G.S. 115D-54 et seq. As to match requirements applicable to bond proceeds for new construction, exceptions, and provisions for allocation where a community college has failed to meet matching requirements by July 1, 2006, see the editor's note at G.S. 116D-41 . Editor's Note. - The Article, including G.S. 115D-45 , referred to in this section, was rewritten by Session Laws 1981, c. 157, and has been recodified. The subject matter of G.S. 115D-45 is now covered by G.S. 115D-54 . Session Laws 2005-276, s. 8.12, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 115D-31 or any other provision of law, funds appropriated in this act for community college capital projects do not have to be matched by local funds." Session Laws 2005-276, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2005'." Session Laws 2005-276, s. 46.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2005-2007 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2005-2007 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2005-276, s. 46.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2006-66, s. 8.10(a)-(c), provides: "(a) Of the funds appropriated to the Community Colleges System Office for facilities and equipment needs, the sum of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be used to create the Community College Facilities and Equipment Fund. This Fund shall be used for the purpose of awarding grants to community colleges for facility and equipment needs. The Community Colleges System Office, in consultation with the State Board of Community Colleges shall develop a competitive grant application process and guidelines for facility or equipment needs. The State Board of Community Colleges shall award grants on the merit of the applications received. No individual grant may exceed the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000). "These grants shall be awarded on a matching basis of one State dollar for every one non-State dollar. "(b) Beginning September 1, 2006, the Community Colleges System Office shall submit a report to the Office of State Budget and Management and the Fiscal Research Division containing the following information about each grant that was awarded: (i) the name of the community college; (ii) a description of the project; (iii) the project location; (iv) the cost-benefit analysis conducted by the Community Colleges System Office and the rationale for awarding the grant; and (v) the amount of the grant. "(c) The Community Colleges System Office shall develop guidelines related to the administration of the Community College Facilities and Equipment Fund and to the selection of projects to receive grants from the Fund. At least 20 days before the effective date of any guidelines or nontechnical amendments to guidelines, the System Office must publish the proposed guidelines on the System Office's Web site and provide notice to persons who have requested notice of proposed guidelines. In addition, the State Board shall accept oral and written comments on the proposed guidelines during the 15 business days beginning on the first day that the Department has completed these notifications. For the purpose of this subsection, a technical amendment is either of the following: "(1) An amendment that corrects a spelling or grammatical error. "(2) An amendment that makes a clarification based on public comment and could have been anticipated by the public notice that immediately preceded the public comment." Session Laws 2006-66, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2006'." Session Laws 2006-66, s. 28.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2006-2007 fiscal year." Session Laws 2006-66, s. 28.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2006-203, s. 126, provides, in part: "Prosecutions for offenses committed before July 1, 2007 are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 8.10, provides: "(a) Funds in the amount of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) are appropriated in section 2 of this act for the 2007-2008 fiscal year to the Community College Facilities and Equipment Fund. These funds shall be used to award grants to community colleges for facility and equipment needs. The Community Colleges System Office, in consultation with the State Board of Community Colleges, shall develop a competitive grant application process and guidelines for facility or equipment needs. The State Board of Community Colleges shall award grants on the merit of the applications received. Priority shall be given to projects that (i) are consistent with the college's strategic plan, (ii) have a high potential for promoting economic growth, and (iii) did not receive a grant during the 2006-2007 fiscal year. Also, projects shall be distributed geographically throughout the State. No individual grant may exceed the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000). "These grants shall be awarded on a matching basis of one State dollar ($1.00) for every one non-State dollar ($1.00). "(b) Beginning September 1, 2007, the Community Colleges System Office shall submit a report to the Office of State Budget and Management and the Fiscal Research Division containing the following information about each grant that was awarded: (i) the name of the community college; (ii) a description of the project; (iii) the project location; (iv) the cost-benefit analysis conducted by the Community Colleges System Office and the rationale for awarding the grant; and (v) the amount of the grant." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2007'." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2011-391, s. 20, added Session Laws 2011-145, s. 8.21, which limited transfers from faculty salaries to support other instructional costs or purposes, effective contingent on the enactment of legislation allowing the board of trustees of any community college to adopt a resolution declining to participate in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program; Session Laws 2011-148, 2011-154, 2011-155, and 2011-178, satisfied the terms of the contingency, and were codified at G.S. 115D-40.1(e) at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2011-391, s. 20, was subsequently repealed by Session Laws 2011-412, s. 3.3. Session Laws 2013-410, s. 43, effective August 23, 2013, repealed Session Laws 2011-148, 2011-154, 2011-155, and 2011-178. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2006-203, s. 38, effective July 1, 2007, and applicable to the budget for the 2007-2009 biennium and each subsequent biennium thereafter, substituted "G.S. 143C-4-5" for "G.S. 143-31.4" in subdivision (a)(1). Session Laws 2010-31, s. 8.2, effective July 1, 2010, added subsection (b1). Session Laws 2011-145, s. 8.4, effective July 1, 2011, in subsection (e), substituted "Enrollment Growth Reserve" for "Equipment Reserve Fund" in the first sentence, and added the last two sentences. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 10.2(b), effective July 1, 2015, added the last sentence to the first paragraph of subsection (b1). Opinions of Attorney General Matching Funds Required for Capital Improvement Disbursement. - Subdivision (a)(1) of this section obligates the State Board of Community Colleges to require local community colleges to provide matching funds before it disburses capital improvement money from the 1998 Appropriations Bill. See opinion of Attorney General to H. Martin Lancaster President NC Community College System, 1998 N.C.A.G. 56 (12/18/98).