North Carolina § 147-86 - 23. Interest and penalties.

§ 147-86. 23. Interest and penalties.

A State agency shall charge interest at the rate established pursuant to G.S. 105-241.21 on a past-due account receivable from the date the account receivable was due until it is paid. A State agency shall add to a past-due account receivable a late payment penalty of no more than ten percent (10%) of the account receivable. A State agency may waive a late-payment penalty for good cause shown. If another statute requires the payment of interest or a penalty on a past-due account receivable, this section does not apply to that past-due account receivable. This section does not apply to money owed to the University of North Carolina Health Care System or to East Carolina University's Division of Health Sciences for health care services, to the North Carolina Turnpike Authority for money owed to the Authority for tolls, or to the North Carolina State Health Plan for past-due account receivables related to premiums and claims payments. History (1993, c. 512, s. 1; 2007-306, s. 4; 2007-491, s. 44(1)a; 2012-78, s. 14; 2012-194, s. 68(c); 2013-324, s. 6.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2012-78, s. 18, provides: "Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of the section of this act that modifies the offense [June 26, 2012] 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 2020-3, s. 2.28, as amended by Session Laws 2021-3, s. 2.3, provides: "Notwithstanding G.S. 147-86.23, a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina shall not accrue or charge any interest to a past-due account receivable held by a student between March 13, 2020, and December 31, 2021." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 4.24(a), (b), provides: "(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 147-86.23, a State agency, as defined in G.S. 147-86.20(5), may waive any interest due on a past-due account receivable. This section does not apply to money owed to the University of North Carolina Health Care System or to East Carolina University's Division of Health Sciences for health care services, to the North Carolina Turnpike Authority for money owed to the Authority for tolls, or to the North Carolina State Health Plan for past-due account receivables related to premiums and claims payments. "(b) This section is effective when it becomes law and expires August 1, 2020." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.1, as amended by Session Laws 2020-49, s. 3(a), provides: "For the purposes of this Part, the following definitions apply: "(1) Authority. - State Education Assistance Authority. "(2) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. - The period beginning March 10, 2020, and continuing until the Governor signs an executive order rescinding Executive Order No. 116 (Declaration of a State of Emergency to Coordinate Response and Protective Actions to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19). "(3) Federal testing waiver. - The testing waiver granted to the State Board of Education by the United States Department of Education for the 2019-2020 school year, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, which, pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11, eliminated the collection of certain student assessment data for the 2019-2020 school year. "(4) Modified calendar school. - A school that a local board designated as having a modified calendar for the 2003-2004 school year or any school that was part of a planned program in the 2003-2004 school year for a system of modified calendar schools, so long as the school operates under a modified calendar. "(5) State Board. - The State Board of Education. "(6) Year-round school. - A school with a single or multi-track instructional calendar that was adopted prior to March 1, 2020, and provides instructional days in compliance with Section 2.11(b)(1) of this Part throughout the entire school calendar year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30, by utilizing at least one of the following plans: "a. A plan dividing students into four groups and requiring each group to be in school for assigned and staggered quarters each school calendar year. "b. A plan providing students be scheduled to attend an average of between 44 and 46 instructional days followed by an average of between 15 and 20 days of vacation, repeated throughout the school calendar year. "c. A plan dividing the school calendar year into five nine-week sessions of classes and requiring each student to attend four assigned and staggered sessions out of the five nine-week sessions to complete the student's instructional year." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 2.2, provides: "The purpose of this Part is to clarify or modify certain requirements in consideration of actions and circumstances related to the COVID-19 emergency, including, but not limited to, the federal testing waiver and the closure of schools for in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 school year." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2007-306, s. 4, effective July 28, 2007, added the last sentence in the section. Session Laws 2007-491, s. 44(1)a, effective January 1, 2008, substituted "G.S. 105-241.21" for "G.S. 105-241.1(i)" in the first sentence. Session Laws 2012-78, s. 14, effective June 26, 2012, substituted "services or to the North Carolina Turnpike Authority for money owed to the Authority for tolls" for "services" in the last sentence. Session Laws 2012-194, s. 68(c), effective July 17, 2012, inserted "or to East Carolina University's Division of Health Sciences" in the last sentence. Session Laws 2013-324, s. 6, effective July 23, 2013, in the fifth sentence, deleted "or" following "health care services" and added "or to the North Carolina State Health Plan for past-due account receivables related to premiums and claims payments."