North Carolina § 143C-1-2 - Appropriations: constitutional requirement; reversions.

§ 143C-1-2. Appropriations: constitutional requirement; reversions.

Appropriation Required to Withdraw State Funds From the State Treasury. - In accordance with Section 7 of Article V of the North Carolina Constitution, no money shall be drawn from the State treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law. A law enacted by the General Assembly that expressly appropriates funds from the State treasury is an appropriation; however, an enactment by the General Assembly that describes the purpose of a fund, authorizes the use of funds, allows the use of funds, or specifies how funds may be expended, is not an appropriation. Reversions. - Unless otherwise provided by law, at the end of the fiscal year the unexpended, unencumbered balance of an appropriation reverts to the fund from which the appropriation was made; except that (i) an appropriation to the General Assembly shall not revert unless otherwise provided by the Legislative Services Commission, (ii) an appropriation for a capital improvement project shall revert as provided by G.S. 143C-8-11, and (iii) an appropriation for the implementation of information technology (IT) projects shall not revert until the project is implemented or abandoned. History (2006-203, s. 3; 2019-250, s. 5.11.) Cross References. - As to collegiate insignia plates and certain other special plates, see G.S. 20-81.12 . Disaster Recovery Act of 2017. - Session Laws 2017-119, s. 5, provides: "No Reversion of Funds. - Funds described in Section 1 of this act shall remain available to implement the provisions of this act until the General Assembly directs the reversion of any unexpended and unencumbered funds. G.S. 143C-6-23(f1)(1) shall not apply to funds de- scribed in Section 1 of this act." Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2009-451, s. 15.6, provides: "Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 143C-1-2(b) , certification and renewal fees collected by the Dispute Resolution Commission are nonreverting and are only to be used at the direction of the Commission." For prior similar provisions, see Session Laws 2007-323, s. 14.9. Session Laws 2009-451, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2009'." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 28.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 28.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2014-100, s. 6.7(a)-(g), provides: "(a) Finding. - The General Assembly finds that State budgeting is more transparent when the enacted budget for any given fiscal year appropriates all State funds intended for expenditure during that fiscal year, including funds encumbered in prior fiscal years, funds carried forward from prior fiscal years pursuant to statutory authority, and unearned revenue earned in a prior fiscal year. "(b) Review of Current Practices. - The Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of the State Controller, in consultation with the Fiscal Research Division, shall examine all of the following: "(1) How funds in the General Fund are currently accounted for, including practices relating to (i) the reversion of appropriated funds to the General Fund, (ii) the appropriation of funds to pay obligations incurred in prior fiscal years, (iii) the movement of funds into and out of special funds, and (iv) related matters. "(2) How the practices examined pursuant to subdivision (1) of this section compare with those of other states. "(3) Whether any statutory or administrative changes would improve the transparency and accounting accuracy of the General Fund. "(4) Whether the practices examined pursuant to subdivision (1) of this section comply with applicable standards of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. "(c) Pilot Program. - The Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of the State Controller, in consultation with the Fiscal Research Division, may establish and operate a pilot program to test measures for improving the extent to which funds that are to be spent in a given fiscal year are properly budgeted in that fiscal year. The pilot program may be subject to the following: "(1) The pilot program may include the following programs and funds: "a. Some or all of the grant programs and special funds within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "b. Some or all of the unexpended appropriations carried forward by The University of North Carolina pursuant to G.S. 116-30.3 . "c. Any other programs and funds that are deemed to be suitable for inclusion in the pilot program. "(2) Funds and programs that are included in the pilot program may be subject to the following requirements: "a. An alternative liquidation period for encumbered funds that do not revert at the end of the 2014-2015 fiscal year under G.S. 143C-1-2(b) . "b. A requirement (i) that The University of North Carolina prepare an estimate of the amount of funds it anticipates will be carried forward into the 2015-2016 fiscal year pursuant to G.S. 116-30.3 and (ii) that this estimate be submitted to the Office of State Budget and Management and to the Fiscal Research Division no later than March 1, 2015. "(d) Report. - No later than October 1, 2015, the Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of the State Controller, in consultation with the Fiscal Research Division, shall report the results of the review and pilot program required by this section to the chairs of the Senate Appropriations•ase Budget Committee, to the chairs of the House Appropriations Committee, and to the Director of the Budget. The report may include a recommendation to extend the pilot program for an additional fiscal year, if this is deemed desirable. "(e) Recommendations for an Alternative Pilot Program. - If the Office of State Budget and Management and the Office of the State Controller, in consultation with the General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division, determine that the pilot program required by this section cannot be implemented, they shall report the reasons for reaching this conclusion, along with any other findings and recommendations for future action, to the chairs of the Senate Appropriations•ase Budget Committee, to the chairs of the House Appropriations Committee, and to the Director of the Budget no later than February 1, 2015. If a report is submitted pursuant to this subsection, then the pilot program required by subsection (c) of this section shall not be implemented, but the review required by subsection (b) of this section shall nonetheless be performed. "(f) Expiration of Pilot Program. - The pilot program required by this section shall expire upon the submission of the report required by subsection (d) of this section or the submission pursuant to subsection (e) of this section stating that the pilot program cannot be implemented. "(g) Effective Date. - This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to funds appropriated for the 2014-2015 fiscal year and subsequent fiscal years." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 6.7 became effective July 1, 2014. Session Laws 2014-100, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2014.'" Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2014-2015 fiscal year." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2016-94, s. 14.20A(b), as amended by Session Laws 2017-17, s. 1, and as amended by Session Laws 2019-75, s. 2, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-6-23(f1)(1) and G.S. 143C-1-2 , funds allocated by this section shall be held in reserve by the Office of State Budget and Management and the allocations to each County shall be released when the County and one or more of the municipalities specified in subsection (a) of this section reach agreement on the funds allocated to that County by this section through interlocal agreements or the formation of regional water and sewer authorities or a combination of interlocal agreements and regional water and sewer authorities. Funds not spent or encumbered by June 30, 2021, shall be returned by the local governments or regional water and sewer authority to the Office of State Budget and Management and revert to the General Fund." Session Laws 2017-17, s. 1(a), provides: "Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Infrastructure, by this act, the sum of fourteen million five hundred forty-eight thousand nine hundred eighty-one dollars ($14,548,981) shall be used to fund interconnection, extension of water lines, and related water system modification and expansion involving the Counties of Rockingham and Guilford and the municipalities of Oak Ridge, Stokesdale, Summerfield, Reidsville, Madison, and Mayodan. Of the funds allocated by this section, no more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the funds shall be used for Guilford County and may include one or more of the municipalities listed in this section located in Guilford County, and no more than seventy-five percent (75%) shall be used for Rockingham County and may include one or more of the municipalities listed in this section located in Rockingham County. The funds allocated by this section may be spent for planning, design, survey, real property acquisition, construction, repair, and any other activities necessary to improve the performance and reliability and expand the capacity and service footprint of participating water systems in Rockingham and Guilford Counties. The Counties of Rockingham and Guilford and the municipalities participating in the interconnection and extension of water lines within each county funded by this section shall agree on the use of the funds allocated by this section through any combination of (i) interlocal agreements under Article 20 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes that specify, at a minimum, the ownership of the water lines and infrastructure funded by this section and long-term maintenance, repair, and replacement responsibility or (ii) one or more regional water and sewer authorities under Article 1 of Chapter 162A of the General Statutes." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 11C.14(c), provides: "G.S. 143C-1-2(b) shall not apply to funds appropriated for the 2016-2017 fiscal year for Eckerd Kids and Caring for Children's Angel Watch program." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2017.'" Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2017-2019 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2017-57, s. 39.6, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2018-5, s. 18B.4(a), as amended by Session Laws 2018-97, s. 5.5, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-1-2(b) , for fiscal years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021, the Judicial Department shall transfer any unexpended, unencumbered funds to Budget Code 22006-2006 to be used to implement an integrated information technology system (e-Courts) in accordance with G.S. 7A-343.2(b) . The cumulative sum transferred shall not exceed three percent (3%) of the Judicial Department's certified budgets for Budget Code 12000, Administrative Office of the Courts, and Budget Code 12001, Office of Indigent Defense Services, for fiscal years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2018.'" Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2018-2019 fiscal year." Session Laws 2018-5, s. 39.7, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2019-250, s. 5.11, effective November 18, 2019, rewrote the second sentence of subsection (a).