2009 North Carolina Code
Chapter 158 - Local Development.
§ 158-33.1. Addition of counties to Region.

§ 158‑33.1.  Addition of counties to Region.

(a)        Authority. – The Region shall allow an eligible county to participate in the Region as provided in this section. A county is eligible to participate in the Region under this section if G.S. 158‑31 authorizes the county to create the Region, but the county failed to adopt a resolution stating its intent to create the Region by the October 1, 1993, deadline set in G.S. 158‑33(b).

(b)        Application. – The governing body of an eligible county may apply to participate in the Region under this section by adopting a resolution to participate in the Region. The resolution must comply with all the requirements of G.S. 158‑33(a) and (b) except that it may be adopted at any time before October 1, 1994. After adopting the resolution, the county shall file a certified copy of the resolution with the Commission.

(c)        Approval of Application. – Within one month after receipt of an application to join the Region pursuant to this section, the Commission shall meet to consider the application. At the meeting, the Commission shall approve the application if all of the following conditions are met:

(1)        The applicant is an eligible county and has adopted a resolution that complies with subsection (b) of this section.

(2)        The applicant agrees to pay a fee equal to the initiation fee paid by each of the counties that originally created the Region.

(3)        The applicant agrees to make monthly payments in lieu of taxes as provided in subsection (f) of this section.

(d)        Commission Resolution. – After the Commission votes to add a county to the Region, the Commission shall adopt a resolution that states its intent to add the county and includes amended articles of incorporation for the Region which set forth the name of the county to be added to the Region. The Commission shall file certified copies of this resolution with the Secretary of State.

(e)        Effect of Amendment. – If the Secretary of State finds that the resolution conforms to the requirements of this Article, the Secretary of State shall file the resolution, issue an amended certificate of incorporation for the Region including the additional county, and record the amended certificate of incorporation. The amended certificate of incorporation for the Region shall become effective on the first day of the second month after it is issued. Upon the effective date of the amended certificate of incorporation for the Region, the new county becomes a fully participating member of the Region. If the Commission has levied a tax in the Region pursuant to G.S. 158‑42, that tax applies within the new county beginning on the date the amended certificate of incorporation becomes effective.

(f)         Payments in Lieu of Taxes. – A county that participates in the Region under this section is required to make monthly payments in lieu of taxes to the Region after the expiration of the tax levied pursuant to G.S. 158‑42. Each payment shall be equal to the estimated net amount of tax that would have been collected in the county under G.S. 158‑42 for that month if the tax were still in effect. Each payment is due within 15 days after the end of the month in which it accrues. The county is required to make monthly payments for a period equal to the number of months that the county was not participating in the Region while the tax was levied under G.S. 158‑42. The requirement that a county make payments in lieu of taxes expires, however, on the effective date of a withdrawal from the Region by the county. For the purposes of this Article, payments in lieu of taxes shall be considered proceeds of the tax levied in G.S. 158‑42 collected in the county making the payment. (1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 751, s. 2; 2005‑364, s. 1.)