Notable Activity

Public work at the General Assembly was slow and steady this week. NCACC expects legislators to maintain this pace as the House and Senate negotiate final versions of high-profile bills, including the state budget. This week, the Senate took up and approved the House’s online sports gambling legislation, while a House committee heard discussion on the Senate’s medical marijuana legislation, though no vote was taken this week.  

Budget negotiations are underway between House and Senate leaders. Once members have come to a final spending plan, work will speed up as the General Assembly works to adjourn the long session, which legislative leaders say is on pace to occur before the 4th of July holiday.   

Please see below for action on a few pieces of legislation impacting counties, as well as a new piece of legislation filed this week making comprehensive changes to election laws.

Action Items

Senate Bill 299 Reimburse Late Audit Costs with Sales Tax Rev. allows the Local Government Commission to withhold up to 150% of the cost of an audit from a local government’s sales tax distribution if that unit fails to submit an annual audit report. NCACC is opposed to this legislation as it sets a problematic precedent — allowing the state to withhold sales tax distributions to compel counties to comply with any number of state objectives. NCACC urges members to reach out to their legislative delegations and express these concerns.

Legislation to Know

House Bill 600 Regulatory Reform Act of 2023 – Allows a local government to impose a system development fee to recoup costs incurred by the local government unit to purchase capacity in, or reserve capacity supplied by, capital improvements or facilities owned by another local government unit but would clarify that the system development fee does not include any charge or fee paid for such capacity. Makes various regulatory changes impacting counties, including various stormwater and wastewater provisions and zoning and development regulations. The Senate unveiled a proposed committee substitute for this bill but did not take any action. Action on the bill could come as early as next week.  

The latest version of the bill can be found here. 

A summary of the bill can be found here.

Senate Bill 747 Election Law Changes – Makes comprehensive election law changes impacting counties, including but not limited to: 

• The transmitting, counting, reporting, and inspecting of absentee ballots. 
• The process for removing foreign citizens from voting rolls. 
• Prohibition of counties accepting private donations for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis. 
• Retention and archival of voting records. 
• The maintaining of a log of any person rendering assistance to a voter. 
• Provisional ballots for same-day registration. 
• The allowance of any eligible voter in a county to file a challenge of a voter’s absentee ballot. 
• Changes regarding the witnessing and signing of absentee ballots. 
• Allocating precinct officials at one-stop voting places to the same level as election day, and other changes regarding precinct officials and poll observers. 
• The extension of poll closing times statewide if extended in one county. 

The bill was filed this week.  

Other Legislation of Interest to Counties

House Bill 130 Energy Choice/Solar Decommissioning Rqmts. – Prohibits local governments from adopting any ordinance that prohibits any energy service based on the type or source of energy to be delivered to the end-user of the energy service. The bill also requires owners or operators of utility-scale solar projects to responsibly decommission the project upon cessation of operations, and to establish financial assurance to cover the decommissioning. The bill gained approval in the Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment committee this week and could be considered on the Senate floor next week. 

Senate Bill 582 North Carolina Farm Act of 2023 – Among other things, considers the sale of honey as qualifying gross income for purposes of the present-use value program for agricultural land. Clarifies that a facility that recycles turkey brooder litter is a bona fide farm purpose that is exempt from county zoning. Exempts compost from sales tax for qualifying farms. Clarifies the definition of “property-hauling” vehicles for taxation and registration. Encourages public schools to make 100% muscadine grape juice available to students statewide. The bill passed the House Agriculture committee this week and could be on the House floor for consideration as early as next week.