North Carolina § 121-7 - 3. Admission and related activity fees and operating hours.

§ 121-7. 3. Admission and related activity fees and operating hours.

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources may charge a reasonable admission and related activity fee to the Roanoke Island Festival Park and any historic site or museum administered by the Department. Admission and related activity fees collected under this section are receipts of the Department and shall be deposited in the appropriate special fund. The revenue collected pursuant to this section shall be used only for the individual site or venue where the receipts were generated. The Secretary may adopt rules necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. The Department is exempt from the requirements of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes and G.S. 12-3.1 when adopting, amending, or repealing rules for operating hours and admission fees or related activity fees at the Roanoke Island Festival Park, historic sites, and museums. History (2003-284, s. 35A.4; 2013-297, s. 2(a); 2013-360, s. 19.2(a); 2014-100, s. 19.5(a); 2015-241, s. 14.30(s); 2017-57, ss. 14.1(cc), 14.8(d); 2020-78, s. 8.2(b).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2003-284, s. 48.1, provides: "Parts 32 through 47 of this act do not affect the rights or liabilities of the State, a taxpayer, or another person arising under a statute amended or repealed by those parts before the effective date of its amendment or repeal; nor do they affect the right to any refund or credit of a tax that accrued under the amended or repealed statute before the effective date of its amendment or repeal." Session Laws 2003-284, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2003'." Session Laws 2003-284, s. 49.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2003-2005 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2003-2005 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2003-284, s. 49.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.11(c), provides: "The Department of Cultural Resources [now Department of Natural and Cultural Resources] may establish admission fees and related activity fees authorized by G.S. 121-7.3 for historic sites and museums. In setting these fees, the Department shall use a dynamic pricing strategy as defined in subsection (e) of this section." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.11(e), provides: "For purposes of this section, 'dynamic pricing' is the adjustment of fees for admission and related activities from time to time to reflect market forces, including seasonal variations and special event interests, with the intent and effect to maximize revenues from use of these State resources to the extent practicable to offset appropriations from the General Assembly." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.11(h) provides: "The Department of Cultural Resources [now Department of Natural and Cultural Resources], as reorganized and renamed by Section 14.30 of this act, shall study issues related to charging admission fees at the North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (collectively, the Museums). The study shall address the following issues: "(1) The impact on receipts and attendance if the Museums charged an admission fee. "(2) Admission fee policies for state-supported museums in other states and the impacts and receipts from those fees. "(3) The costs of new or modified infrastructure and other implementation costs necessary for the Museums to charge fees. "(4) Any synergies or cost savings in the charging and collection of fees due to the geographic proximity of the primary facilities for each of the Museums. "The Department shall report no later than April 1, 2016, to the chairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives appropriations committees with jurisdiction over the Museums and the Fiscal Research Division." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.11(i) provides: "This section applies to admission fees or related activity fees charged on or after the effective date of this act [July 1, 2015]." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2015.'" Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2015 2017 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2015 2017 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2015-241, s. 33.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-78, s. 22.1, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2019-2021 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to the 2019-2021 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2020-78, s. 22.3, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2014-100, s. 19.5(a), effective July 1, 2014, added "and operating hours" at the end of the subsection heading; and inserted "and G.S 12-3.1" and "operating hours and" in the fourth sentence. Session Laws 2015-241, s. 14.30(s), effective July 1, 2015, substituted "Department of Natural and Cultural Resources" for "Department of Cultural Resources" in the first sentence. Session Laws 2017-57, s. 14.1(cc), effective July 1, 2017, substituted "Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources and the Fiscal Research Division" for "Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 14.8(d), effective October 1, 2017, inserted "the Roanoke Island Festival Park and" in the first sentence, substituted "site or venue" for "historic site or museum" in the third sentence, inserted "the Roanoke Island Festival Park" in the next-to-last sentence; and made a stylistic change. Session Laws 2020-78, s. 8.2(b), effective July 1, 2020, deleted the last sentence, which formerly read: "The Department shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources and the Fiscal Research Division on the amount and purpose of a fee change within 30 days following its effective date."