Chapter 160A

(a) The council may fix the date and time of its organizational meeting. The organizational meeting may be held at any time after the results of the municipal election have been officially determined and published pursuant to Subchapter IX of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes b…

This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Ferry Transportation Authority Act." The purpose of this Article is to authorize creation of an Authority to provide reliable and safe public ferry transportation services in its service area. (2017-120, s. 1.)

The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Authority. - The Ferry Transportation Authority. (2) Board of Trustees. - The governing board of the Authority. (3) Ferry Transportation Authority. - A public body corporate and politic organized in accordance with the provisio…

The boundaries of the service area of the Authority shall be determined by the Board of Trustees, consistent with the purpose of the Authority. The service area of an authority created pursuant to this Article may include, but cannot exceed, all of the following: (1) The area of …

(a) Resolution of Creation. - An Authority may be organized under the provisions of this Article upon the adoption of a resolution to create such an Authority by each of the following: (1) The elected board of a municipality only accessible by vessel. (2) The elected board of a m…

(a) Members. - The Board of Trustees consists of 11 members. The Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore of the municipality only accessible by vessel serve as ex officio voting members. The remaining nine members serve staggered three-year terms and are appointed as provided in subsection (…

(a) Financial Accountability. - An Authority created under this Article is a public authority subject to the provisions of Chapter 159 of the General Statutes. (b) Funds. - The establishment and operation of an Authority are governmental functions and constitute a public purpose.…

(a) Notice. - The Board of Trustees must give at least 30 days' public notice of any change to rates, fees, charges, routes, or schedules, except as necessitated by an emergency situation. The Board of Trustees must report any change to rates, fees, charges, routes, or schedules …

(a) Prohibition. - No equipment of the Authority may be used for charter, tour, or sight-seeing service, except as provided by this section. (b) Charter Services. - Equipment of the Authority may be used for occasional charter service events, if all of the following conditions ar…

The Authority shall have continuing power to acquire, by gift, grant, devise, exchange, purchase, lease with or without option to purchase, or any other lawful method, including the power of eminent domain, the fee or any lesser interest in real or personal property for use by th…

The Board of Trustees may terminate the existence of the Authority at any time when it has no outstanding indebtedness. In the event of such termination, all property and assets of the Authority not otherwise encumbered shall automatically become the property of the State of Nort…

The mayor shall preside at all council meetings, but shall have the right to vote only when there are equal numbers of votes in the affirmative and in the negative. In a city where the mayor is elected by the council from among its membership, and the city charter makes no provis…

At the organizational meeting, the council shall elect from among its members a mayor pro tempore to serve at the pleasure of the council. A councilman serving as mayor pro tempore shall be entitled to vote on all matters and shall be considered a councilman for all purposes, inc…

(a) Authority. - A city may use property tax revenues authorized under G.S. 160A-209(c)(26b) and other unrestricted revenues to supplement funding for elementary and secondary public education that benefits the residents of the city. Cities may direct or restrict the use of funds…

(a) The council shall fix the time and place for its regular meetings. If no action has been taken fixing the time and place for regular meetings, a regular meeting shall be held at least once a month at 10:00 A.M. on the first Monday of the month. (b) (1) The mayor, the mayor pr…

Full and accurate minutes of the council proceedings shall be kept, and shall be open to the inspection of the public. The results of each vote shall be recorded in the minutes, and upon the request of any member of the council, the ayes and noes upon any question shall be taken.…

(a) A majority of the actual membership of the council plus the mayor, excluding vacant seats, shall constitute a quorum. A member who has withdrawn from a meeting without being excused by majority vote of the remaining members present shall be counted as present for purposes of …

(a) No member shall be excused from voting except upon matters involving the consideration of the member's own financial interest or official conduct or on matters on which the member is prohibited from voting under G.S. 14-234 or G.S. 160D-109. In all other cases except votes ta…

(a) No ordinance making a grant, renewal, extension, or amendment of any franchise shall be finally adopted until it has been passed at two regular meetings of the council, and no such grant, renewal, extension, or amendment shall be made otherwise than by ordinance. (b) Any publ…

(a) Not later than July 1, 1974, each city having a population of 5,000 or more shall adopt and issue a code of its ordinances. The code may be reproduced by any method that gives legible and permanent copies, and may be issued as a securely bound book or books with periodic sepa…

Effective January 1, 1972, each city shall file a true copy of each ordinance adopted on or after January 1, 1972, in an ordinance book separate and apart from the council's minute book. The ordinance book shall be appropriately indexed and maintained for public inspection in the…

(a) In all civil and criminal cases a city ordinance that has been codified in a code of ordinances adopted and issued in compliance with G.S. 160A-77 must be pleaded by both section number and caption. In all civil and criminal cases a city ordinance that has not been codified i…

(a) The council shall have power to investigate the affairs of the city, and for that purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, and compel the production of evidence. (b) If a person fails or refuses to obey a subpoena issued pursuant to this section, the council may appl…

Public hearings may be held at any place within the city or within the county in which the city is located. The council may adopt reasonable rules governing the conduct of public hearings, including but not limited to rules (i) fixing the maximum time allotted to each speaker, (i…

The council shall provide at least one period for public comment per month at a regular meeting of the council. The council may adopt reasonable rules governing the conduct of the public comment period, including, but not limited to, rules (i) fixing the maximum time allotted to …

Nothing in this Part, except G.S. 160A-77, 160A-78 and 160A-79, shall be construed to repeal any portion of any city charter inconsistent with anything contained herein. (1971, c. 698, s. 1.)

(a) The purpose of this Article is to provide a process for a city in financial distress to transition out of that distress either on its own initiative or with assistance from or under the direction of the Local Government Commission. (b) For purposes of this Article, the follow…

(a) The process established by this Article to rehabilitate a city's financial affairs may be initiated by the Commission. The Commission shall establish criteria for evaluating a city for financial rehabilitation under this Article. (b) The Commission shall apply those criteria …

(a) Upon initiation of the process under G.S. 160A-831, the city shall cooperate and provide information to the Commission to assess the city's financial affairs. The assessment shall include a review of all of the following: (1) The revenues of the city. (2) The future revenue f…

(a) If the Commission determines a city should be subject to this Part but the Commission has not exercised its authority under G.S. 159-181(c) after completion of the financial assessment and receipt or completion of the report required by G.S. 160A-833, the Commission may impou…

(a) After the first fiscal year of cooperation with the Commission, and every year thereafter, the council shall reassess its financial affairs with the assistance of the Commission. Upon completion of the reassessment, the Commission shall make a recommendation to the city as to…

(a) Upon a determination under G.S. 160A-845(c), the city shall work with the Commission to identify local government partners able to provide the services identified by the city as necessary for its citizens. The city shall, after negotiating its terms, enter into interlocal agr…

(a) Upon adoption of the resolution of transfer and dissolution by the Commission under G.S. 160A-848, all of the following shall apply on the effective date set forth in the resolution of transfer and dissolution: (1) All property, real, personal, and mixed, including accounts r…

A resolution of transfer and dissolution by the Commission under G.S. 160A-848 remains in effect unless it is specifically disapproved by the General Assembly in a bill enacted into law on or before the effective date of the resolution. A resolution of transfer and dissolution th…

(a) Governing boards of cities, counties, local boards of education, unified governments, sanitary districts, and consolidated city-counties shall adopt a resolution or policy containing a code of ethics to guide actions by the governing board members in the performance of the me…

Any city may initiate administrative dissolution in accordance with this Part by adoption of a resolution of intent. Such resolution of intent shall be adopted at a regular meeting of the city. A copy of the adopted resolution of intent shall be delivered to the Commission and th…

(a) Within 90 days of the adoption of a resolution of intent to dissolve, the council shall release an impact statement to educate the city residents of the potential ramifications of dissolution. The impact statement shall be filed in the office of the city clerk where it shall …

(a) The council shall conduct at least two public hearings, at regular council meetings, on the matter of the proposed dissolution of the city. The first public hearing shall be no less than 45 days after the filing of the impact statement with the city clerk and no more than 90 …

(a) Prior to adopting a resolution to dissolve under G.S. 160A-868, the council must develop a plan of action to distribute all assets and liabilities of the city, and that plan must be approved by the Commission. However, the council may, at a regular meeting separate and apart …

(a) After the plan of action has been presented as required under G.S. 160A-866, the council shall conduct a public hearing on whether to adopt a resolution to dissolve the city in accordance with the plan of action. Notice of the public hearing shall be published at least once p…

(a) All members of governing boards of cities, counties, local boards of education, unified governments, sanitary districts, and consolidated city-counties shall receive a minimum of two clock hours of ethics education within 12 months after initial election or appointment to the…

(a) The people may initiate a referendum on the resolution to dissolve the city by submitting a petition bearing the signatures and resident addresses of a number of qualified voters of the city equal to at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the whole number of voters who are reg…

After the time for submitting a petition under G.S. 160A-870 has passed and no petition has been submitted or the referendum authorized under this Part was answered in favor of dissolution, the city may implement the plan of action. The effective date of the plan of action to dis…

This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Rail Transportation Corridor Authority Act." The purpose of this Article is to authorize the creation of an Authority to establish, construct, purchase, maintain, equip, and operate any structure, facility, or improvement to ai…

The following definitions apply in this Article: (1) Authority. - A Rail Transportation Corridor Authority. (2) Board of Trustees. - The governing board of an Authority. (3) Costs. - The capital cost of a rail corridor project or special user project, including: a. The costs of d…

(a) An Authority may be created for any area of the State that, at the time of creating the Authority, meets the following criteria: (1) The area consists of three or more contiguous counties each containing portions of an existing rail corridor, with one of the counties having a…

(a) Resolution of Creation. - An Authority may be organized under the provisions of this Article upon the adoption of a resolution to create such an Authority by the boards of commissioners of all three or more counties within an area for which an Authority may be created pursuan…

(a) Members. - The Authority shall be governed by a Board of Trustees and consist of one member for each organizing entity having adopted a resolution for the creation of or a resolution to join the Authority under G.S. 160A-883, and one member for each regional council of govern…

The Board of Trustees may provide for the selection of such advisory committees as it may find appropriate, which may or may not include members of the Board of Trustees. (2024-45, s. 19.4(a).)

(a) The Authority shall have all powers necessary to execute the provisions of this Article, which shall include at least the following powers: (1) The powers of a corporate body, including the power to sue and be sued, to make contracts, to adopt and use a common seal, and to al…