Bill Text: NC S531 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Deannex: Towns of Stanfield/Badin/Red Cross
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 8-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-28 - Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House [S531 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2017-S531-Introduced.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2017
S D
SENATE BILL DRS45327-MK-85B (02/21)
Short Title: School Boards Can't Sue Counties. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Senators Tucker and Rabon (Primary Sponsors). |
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Referred to: |
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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT repealing the statutory authority for a local board of education to file a legal action challenging the sufficiency of the funds appropriated by the board of county commissioners.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C‑431 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑431. Procedure for resolution of dispute between board of education and board of county commissioners.
(a) If the board of education determines that the amount of money appropriated to the local current expense fund, or the capital outlay fund, or both, by the board of county commissioners is not sufficient to support a system of free public schools, the chairman of the board of education and the chairman of the board of county commissioners shall arrange a joint meeting of the two boards to be held within seven days after the day of the county commissioners' decision on the school appropriations.
Prior to the joint meeting, the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge shall appoint a mediator unless the boards agree to jointly select a mediator. The mediator shall preside at the joint meeting and shall act as a neutral facilitator of disclosures of factual information, statements of positions and contentions, and efforts to negotiate an agreement settling the boards' differences.
At the joint meeting, the entire school budget shall be considered carefully and judiciously, and the two boards shall make a good‑faith attempt to resolve the differences that have arisen between them.
(b) If no agreement is
reached at the joint meeting of the two boards, the mediator shall, at the
request of either board, commence a mediation immediately or within a
reasonable period of time. The mediation shall be held in accordance with rules
and standards of conduct adopted under Chapter 7A of the General Statutes
governing mediated settlement conferences but modified as appropriate and
suitable to the resolution of the particular issues in disagreement.the
decision of the county commissioners is final. The local board of education
shall not file any legal action challenging the sufficiency of the funds
appropriated by the board of county commissioners to the local current expense
fund, the capital outlay fund, or both.
Unless otherwise agreed upon by
both boards, the following individuals shall constitute the two working groups
empowered to represent their respective boards during the mediation:
(1) The chair of each board or the chair's designee;
(2) The superintendent of the local school
administrative unit and the county manager or either's designee;
(3) The finance officer of each board; and
(4) The attorney for each board.
Members of both boards, their
chairs, and representatives shall cooperate with and respond to all reasonable
requests of the mediator to participate in the mediation. Notwithstanding
Article 33C of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, the mediation proceedings
involving the two working groups shall be conducted in private. Evidence of
statements made and conduct occurring in a mediation are not subject to
discovery and are inadmissible in any court action. However, no evidence
otherwise discoverable is inadmissible merely because it is presented or
discussed in a mediation. The mediator shall not be compelled to testify or
produce evidence concerning statements made and conduct occurring in a
mediation in any civil proceeding for any purpose, except disciplinary hearings
before the State Bar or any agency established to enforce standards of conduct
for mediators. Reports by members of either working group to their respective
boards shall be made in compliance with Article 33C of Chapter 143 of the
General Statutes.
Unless both boards agree
otherwise, or unless the boards have already resolved their dispute, the
mediation shall end no later than August 1. The mediator shall have the
authority to determine that an impasse exists and to discontinue the mediation.
The mediation may continue beyond August 1 provided both boards agree. If both boards
agree to continue the mediation beyond August 1, the board of county
commissioners shall appropriate to the local school administrative unit for
deposit in the local current expense fund a sum of money sufficient to equal
the local contribution to this fund for the previous year.
If the working groups reach a
proposed agreement, the terms and conditions must be approved by each board. If
no agreement is reached, the mediator shall announce that fact to the chairs of
both boards, the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge, and the public. The
mediator shall not disclose any other information about the mediation. The
mediator shall not make any recommendations or public statement of findings or
conclusions.
The local board of education and
the board of county commissioners shall share equally the mediator's
compensation and expenses. The mediator's compensation shall be determined
according to rules adopted under Chapter 7A of the General Statutes.
(c) Within five days after an announcement of no
agreement by the mediator, the local board of education may file an action in
the superior court division of the General Court of Justice. Either board has
the right to have the issues of fact tried by a jury. When a jury trial is
demanded, the cause shall be set for the first succeeding term of the superior
court in the county, and shall take precedence over all other business of the
court. However, if the judge presiding certifies to the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, either before or during the term, that because of the
accumulation of other business, the public interest will be best served by not
trying the cause at the term next succeeding the filing of the action, the
Chief Justice shall immediately call a special term of the superior court for
the county, to convene as soon as possible, and assign a judge of the superior
court or an emergency judge to hold the court, and the cause shall be tried at
this special term. The judge shall find, or if the issue is submitted to the
jury, the jury shall find the facts as to the following in order to maintain a
system of free public schools as defined by State law and State Board of
Education policy: (i) the amount of money legally necessary from all sources
and (ii) the amount of money legally necessary from the board of county
commissioners. In making the finding, the judge or the jury shall consider the
educational goals and policies of the State and the local board of education,
the budgetary request of the local board of education, the financial resources
of the county and the local board of education, and the fiscal policies of the
board of county commissioners and the local board of education.
All findings of fact in the
superior court, whether found by the judge or a jury, shall be conclusive. When
the facts have been found, the court shall give judgment ordering the board of
county commissioners to appropriate a sum certain to the local school
administrative unit, and to levy such taxes on property as may be necessary to
make up this sum when added to other revenues available for the purpose.
(d) An appeal may be taken to the appellate division
of the General Court of Justice, and notice of appeal shall be given in writing
within 10 days after entry of the judgment. All papers and records relating to
the case shall be considered a part of the record on appeal. The conclusion of
the school or fiscal year shall not be deemed to resolve the question in
controversy between the parties while an appeal is still pending. Any final
judgment shall be legally binding on the parties at the conclusion of the
appellate process. The payment of any final judgment by the county in favor of
the local school administrative unit shall not be considered, or used in any
manner, to deny or reduce appropriations to the local school administrative
unit by the county in fiscal years subsequent to the one at issue to offset
such payment of a final judgment.
(e) If, in an action filed under this section, the
final judgment of the General Court of Justice is rendered after the due date
prescribed by law for property taxes, the board of county commissioners is
authorized to levy such supplementary taxes as may be required by the judgment,
notwithstanding any other provisions of law with respect to the time for doing
acts necessary to a property tax levy. Upon making a supplementary levy under
this subsection, the board of county commissioners shall designate the person
who is to compute and prepare the supplementary tax receipts and records for
all such taxes. Upon delivering the supplementary tax receipts to the tax
collector, the board of county commissioners shall proceed as provided in G.S.
105‑321.
The due date of supplementary
taxes levied under this subsection is the date of the levy, and the taxes may
be paid at par or face amount at any time before the one hundred and twentieth
day after the due date. On or after the one hundred and twentieth day and
before the one hundred and fiftieth day from the due date there shall be added
to the taxes interest at the rate of two percent (2%). On or after the one
hundred and fiftieth day from the due date, there shall be added to the taxes,
in addition to the two percent (2%) provided above, interest at the rate of
three‑fourths of one percent (3/4 of 1%) per 30 days or fraction thereof
until the taxes plus interest have been paid. No discounts for prepayment of
supplementary taxes levied under this subsection shall be allowed."
SECTION 2. G.S. 115C‑432(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) After the board of
county commissioners has made its appropriations to the local school
administrative unit, or after the appeal procedure set out in G.S. 115C‑431
has been concluded, the board of education shall adopt a budget resolution
making appropriations for the budget year in such sums as the board may deem sufficient
and proper. The budget resolution shall conform to the uniform budget format
established by the State Board of Education."
SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with budget ordinances adopted on or after that date.