North Carolina § 159-148 - Contracts subject to Article; exceptions.

§ 159-148. Contracts subject to Article; exceptions.

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this Article applies to any contract, agreement, memorandum of understanding, and any other transaction having the force and effect of a contract (other than agreements made in connection with the issuance of revenue bonds, special obligation bonds issued pursuant to Article 7A of this Chapter, or of general obligation bonds additionally secured by a pledge of revenues) made or entered into by a unit of local government (as defined by G.S. 159-7(b) or, in the case of a special obligation bond, as authorized in G.S. 159-146), relating to the lease, acquisition, or construction of capital assets, which contract does all of the following: Extends for five or more years from the date of the contract, including periods that may be added to the original term through the exercise of options to renew or extend. Obligates the unit to pay sums of money to another, without regard to whether the payee is a party to the contract. Obligates the unit over the full term of the contract, including periods that may be added to the original term through the exercise of options to renew or extend: For baseball park districts, to at least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). For housing authorities, to at least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or a sum equal to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per housing unit owned and under active management by the housing authority, whichever is less. For other units, to at least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or a sum equal to one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of 1%) of the assessed value of property subject to taxation by the contracting unit, whichever is less. Obligates the unit, expressly or by implication, to exercise its power to levy taxes either to make payments falling due under the contract, or to pay any judgment entered against the unit as a result of the unit's breach of the contract. This Article shall not apply to: Contracts between a unit of local government and the State of North Carolina or the United States of America (or any agency of either) entered into as a condition to the making of grants or loans to the unit of local government. Contracts for the purchase, lease, or lease with option to purchase of motor vehicles or voting machines. Repealed by Session Laws 2020-3, s. 4.30(g), effective retroactively to July 1, 2019. Contingent obligation shall be included in calculating the value of the contract. Several contracts that are all related to the same undertaking shall be deemed a single contract for the purposes of this Article. When several contracts are considered as a single contract, the term shall be that of the contract having the longest term, and the sums to fall due shall be the total of all sums to fall due under all single contracts in the group. History (1971, c. 780, s. 1; 1973, c. 494, s. 31; 1989, c. 756, s. 6; 1991, c. 11, s. 4; 1997-380, s. 4; 1998-222, s. 1; 2001-206, s. 2; 2001-414, s. 52; 2020-3, s. 4.30(g).) Local Modification. - Mecklenburg County: 2009-162, s. 1(c). Editor's Note. - Session Laws 1989, c. 756, s. 9 provides: "This act shall be construed liberally to effectuate the legislative intent and the purposes as complete and independent authority for the performance of each and every act and thing authorized by this act, and all powers granted shall be broadly interpreted to effectuate the intent and purposes and not as a limitation of powers." Session Laws 2020-3, s. 5, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2020-3, s. 4.30(g), effective retroactively to July 1, 2019, in subsection (a), substituted "Article 7A of this Chapter" for "Chapter 159I of the General Statutes" near the middle, and substituted "authorized in G.S. 159-146" for "defined in Chapter 159I of the General Statutes" near the end; and deleted (b)(3), which read: "Loan agreements entered into by a unit of local government pursuant to the North Carolina Solid Waste Management Loan Program, Chapter 159I of the General Statutes." Legal Periodicals. - For symposium on municipal finance, see 1976 Duke L.J. 1051 (1976).