North Carolina § 143C-6-1 - Budget enacted by the General Assembly; certified budgets of State agencies.

§ 143C-6-1. Budget enacted by the General Assembly; certified budgets of State agencies.

Governor to Administer the Budget as Enacted by the General Assembly. - In accordance with Section 5(3) of Article III of the North Carolina Constitution, the Governor shall administer the budget as enacted by the General Assembly. All appropriations of State funds now or hereafter made to the State agencies and non-State entities authorize expenditures only for the (i) purposes or programs and (ii) objects or line items enumerated in the Recommended State Budget and the Budget Support Document recommended to the General Assembly by the Governor, as amended and enacted by the General Assembly in the Current Operations Appropriations Act or any other act affecting the State budget. The Governor shall ensure that appropriations are expended in strict accordance with the budget enacted by the General Assembly. Departmental Receipts. - Departmental receipts collected to support a program or purpose shall be credited to the fund from which appropriations have been made to support that program or purpose. A State agency shall expend departmental receipts first, including receipts in excess of the amount of receipts budgeted in the certified budget for the program or purpose, and shall expend other funds appropriated for the purpose or program only to the extent that receipts are insufficient to meet the costs anticipated in the certified budget. Certification of the Budget. - The Director of the Budget shall certify to each State agency the amount appropriated to it for each program and each object from all funds included in the budget as defined in G.S. 143C-3-5(d). The certified budget for each State agency shall reflect the total of all appropriations enacted for each State agency by the General Assembly in the Current Operations Appropriations Act and any other act affecting the State budget. The certified budget for each State agency shall follow the format of the Budget Support Document as modified to reflect changes enacted by the General Assembly. Except as authorized in G.S. 143C-6-4 , excess departmental receipts shall not be used to increase expenditures for a purpose or program. History (2006-203, s. 3; 2013-360, s. 6.12(m); 2017-57, s. 6.6(f).) Government Efficiency and Reform. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 6.5(a)-(f), provides: "(a) The Office of State Budget and Management shall contract for a Government Efficiency and Reform review and analysis of the executive branch of State government, which shall be known as NC GEAR. The purpose of the review and analysis is to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of State government and to identify specific strategies for making State government more efficient and effective. The review and analysis may examine entire departments, agencies, institutions, or similar programs in different departments. The review and analysis shall include an examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of major management policies, practices, and functions pertaining to the following areas: "(1) The statutory authority, funding sources, and functions of each department, agency, institution, or program. "(2) The organizational structure and staffing patterns in place to perform these functions and whether they are appropriate based on comparative data and other reasonable staffing criteria. "(3) The measurement of each reviewed program's outcomes, overall performance, and success in accomplishing its mandated or stated mission and subsequent goals, considering the resources provided to the program. "(4) State and local responsibilities for providing government services and funding for those services, and whether these responsibilities should be reallocated. (5) Personnel systems operations and management. "(6) State purchasing operations and management. "(7) Information technology and telecommunications systems policy, organization, and management. "(8) The identification of opportunities to reduce fragmentation, duplication, and related or overlapping services or activities through restructuring of departmental organizations and streamlining programs. "(b) All executive branch departments, agencies, boards, commissions, authorities, and institutions in the executive branch of State government, including receipt-supported agencies, and all non-State entities receiving State funds shall be subject to review and analysis. The chief administrative officer of each entity shall ensure full cooperation with the Office of State Budget and Management and provide timely responses to the Office of State Budget and Management's request for information under the provisions of G.S. 143C-2-1(b) . "(c) The Office of State Budget and Management will work collaboratively with the Office of State Auditor to develop the review, analysis, and findings needed to produce a final report and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly. "(d) The contracting provisions of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes and related State purchasing and budget regulations do not apply to NC GEAR; however, the Office of State Budget and Management shall report all external contracts for consultants or professional services within 30 days of their execution to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Fiscal Research Division, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. "(e) The Office of State Budget and Management shall submit an interim report of the NC GEAR's analysis, findings, and recommendations to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Fiscal Research Division, and the Program Evaluation Division by February 15, 2014, and a final report by February 15, 2015. "(f) Funds appropriated for NC GEAR shall be used to contract with consultants and other experts and to pay for travel, postage, printing, planning, and other related costs as needed to accomplish the objectives specified for the project. Funds appropriated for the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium for NC GEAR shall not revert at the end of each fiscal year but shall remain available for expenditure for the project." Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2008-107, s. 25.4(a)-(e), provides: "(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 143C-6-1 and G.S. 143C-6-7 , the Department of Transportation and the Office of State Budget and Management shall review each of the Department's divisions' expenditure patterns and realign the continuation and certified budget for the 2009-2011 Fiscal Biennium. The certified budget shall become the current expenditure plan for each division based on anticipated expenditure patterns. "(b) The Department of Transportation shall prepare a report on the cash spending plan based on the certified budget's fund codes. This report shall show cash expenditure plans for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. "(c) The Department of Transportation and the Office of State Budget and Management shall jointly study alternatives and enhancements to the current budgeting process that highlight and more closely align the Department's division, DMV, ferry, rail, public transportation, and administration spending with performance outcomes and metrics. Study goals include greater clarity of budgets and cash work plans, flexible funding capabilities, and projected investment performance. "(d) The Department of Transportation shall develop a quarterly report that evaluates the Department's achievement of performance measures for safety, preservation, capacity improvements, ITS, effective and efficient business practices, spending plans, DMV services, minority and disadvantaged business goals, and other relevant performance indicators. Division performance comparisons will be included where applicable. The fourth quarter report will serve as the annual performance evaluation and shall be submitted to the Governor and Legislature, including the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee. "(e) The Department of Transportation and the Office of State Budget and Management shall report on its cash spending plan for the 2008-2009 fiscal year and shall present recommendations for a revised budget process to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, Appropriations Subcommittee for Transportation, and the Fiscal Research Division no later than November 1, 2008. The Department of Transportation shall present the Fiscal Year 2009 first quarter performance report to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee and the Fiscal Research Division no later than November 15, 2008." Session Laws 2008-107, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2008'." Session Laws 2008-107, s. 30.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2008-2009 fiscal year." Session Laws 2008-107, s. 30.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2011-145, s. 2.2(n), provides: "Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 6 of Chapter 143C of the General Statute or any other law to the contrary, the State Controller shall transfer one million dollars ($1,000,000) from the NC FICA Account for deposit in the Nontax Budget Code 19878 (Intrastate Transfers) for the 2011-2012 fiscal year." Session Laws 2011-145, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2011.'" Session Laws 2011-145, s. 32.2, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2011-145, s. 32.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2013-360, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2013.'" Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.2, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.5, 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." "(f) 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. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 6.12(m), effective July 1, 2013, added the second sentence in subsection (b); and substituted "funds included in the budget as defined in G.S. 143C-3-5(d) " for "governmental and proprietary funds" in subsection (c). Session Laws 2017-57, s. 6.6(f), effective June 28, 2017, deleted "the Capital Improvements Appropriations Act," following "Current Operations Appropriations Act" in subsections (a) and (c).