GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999
SESSION LAW 2000-188
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE ADDITIONAL VOLUNTARY MUNICIPAL PARTICIPATION IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 136-66.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 136-66.3. Municipal participation in improvements to the State highway system.
(a) Except as
otherwise authorized by this Article, no municipality shall participate in the
cost of any State highway system improvement project approved by the Board of
Transportation under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4). No municipality shall be
required to contribute to the right-of-way and construction costs of any State
highway system improvement approved by the Board of Transportation under G.S.
143B-350(f)(4), nor shall the Department of Transportation accept any
participation, directly or indirectly, from a municipality except as authorized
by this Article.
(b) The
restrictions imposed by this section on participation by municipalities in the
implementation of improvements on the State highway system shall not apply to
those improvements approved by the Board of Transportation which are financed
by funds allocated by the General Assembly for the "Small Urban Construction
Program". The municipalities may, but shall not be required to,
participate in the right-of-way and construction cost of "Small Urban
Construction Program" highway improvements.
(a) Municipal Participation Authorized. - A municipality may, but is not required to, participate in the right-of-way and construction cost of a State highway improvement approved by the Board of Transportation under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4) that is located in the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction.
(b) Process for Initiating Participation. - A municipality interested in participating in the funding of a State highway improvement project may submit a proposal to the Department of Transportation. The Department and the municipality shall include their respective responsibilities for a proposed municipal participation project in any agreement reached concerning participation.
(c) Type of
Participation Authorized. - A municipality is authorized and empowered to
acquire land by dedication and acceptance, purchase, or eminent domain, and
make improvements to portions of the State highway system lying within or
outside the municipal corporate limits utilizing local funds that have been
authorized for that purpose purpose. by a vote of the citizens
of the municipality. The governing body of the municipality may call a
special referendum at any time to allow this use of funds. The total cost
of the improvements authorized by this subsection shall be the responsibility
of the municipality and shall not be participated in by the Department of
Transportation, nor shall the construction of improvements be a consideration
for any other project by the Department of Transportation. All improvements
to the State highway system shall be done in accordance with the specifications
and requirements of the Department of Transportation and shall be set forth
in an agreement entered into between the municipality and the Department.
The Board of Transportation shall not give consideration to or credit for such
locally financed improvements in the Transportation Improvement Program under
G.S. 143B-350(f)(4). Transportation.
(c1) No TIP Disadvantage for Participation. - If a municipality participates in a State highway system improvement project, as authorized by this section, the Department shall ensure that the municipality's participation does not cause any disadvantage to any other project in the Transportation Improvement Program under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4) and located outside the municipality.
(c2) Distribution of State Funds Made Available by Municipal Participation. - Any State or federal funds allocated to a project that are made available by municipal participation in a project contained in the Transportation Improvement Program under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4) shall remain in the same funding region that the funding was allocated to under the distribution formula contained in G.S. 136-17.2A.
(c3) Limitation on Agreements. - The Department shall not enter into any agreement with a municipality to provide additional total funding for highway construction in the municipality in exchange for municipal participation in any project contained in the Transportation Improvement Program under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4).
(d) Authorization to Participate in Development-Related Improvements. - When in the review and approval by a municipality of plans for the development of property abutting the State highway system it is determined by the municipality that improvements to the State highway system are necessary to provide for the safe and orderly movement of traffic, the municipality is authorized to construct, or have constructed, said improvements to the State highway system in vicinity of the development. For purposes of this section, improvements include but are not limited to additional travel lanes, turn lanes, curb and gutter, and drainage facilities. All improvements to the State highway system shall be constructed in accordance with the specifications and requirements of the Department of Transportation and be approved by the Department of Transportation.
(e) Authorization to
Participate in Project Additions. - Pursuant to an agreement with the
Department of Transportation, A a municipality may pursuant
to an agreement with the Department of Transportation reimburse the
Department of Transportation for the cost of all improvements, including
additional right-of-way, for a street or highway improvement project projects
approved by the Board of Transportation under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4) G.S.
143B-350(f)(4), that are in addition to those improvements that the
Department of Transportation would normally include in the project.
(f) Municipalities
having a population of less than 10,000 according to the most recent annual
estimates of population as certified to the Secretary of Revenue by the State
Budget Officer shall not participate in the right-of-way and construction costs
of any State highway system improvement project approved by the Board of
Transportation under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4).
Municipalities having a population of 10,000 or more
according to the most recent annual estimates of population as certified to the
Secretary of Revenue by the State Budget Officer may, but shall not be required
by the Department or Board of Transportation, participate up to a maximum percentage
as shown below in the cost of rights-of-way of the portion of any
transportation improvement project approved by the Board of Transportation
under G.S. 143B-350(f)(4) that is located within the municipal corporate
limits:
Municipal
Maximum Participation
Population
In Right-of-Way Costs
10,000 - 25,000
5%
25,001 - 50,000
10%
50,001 - 100,000
15%
over 100,000
25%
(e1) Reimbursement Procedure.
- Any participation shall be set forth in an agreement between the
municipality and the Department of Transportation. Upon request of
the municipality, the Department of Transportation shall allow the municipality
a period of not less than three years from the date construction of the project
is initiated to reimburse the Department their agreed upon share of the costs of
rights-of-way necessary for the project. The Department of
Transportation shall not charge a municipality any interest on its agreed
upon share of rights-of-way costs. during the initial three years.
(f) Report
to General Assembly. - The Secretary Department shall report
in writing, on a monthly basis, to the Joint Legislative Commission on
Governmental Operations on all agreements entered into between municipalities
and the Department of Transportation. The report shall state in summary
form the contents of such agreements.
(g) Municipal Acquisition of Rights-of-Way. - In the acquisition of rights-of-way for any State highway system street or highway in or around a municipality, the municipality shall be vested with the same authority to acquire such rights-of-way as is granted to the Department of Transportation in this Chapter. In the acquisition of such rights-of-way, municipalities may use the procedures provided in Article 9 of this Chapter, and wherever the words "Department of Transportation" appear in Article 9 they shall be deemed to include "municipality" or "municipal governing body," and wherever the words "Administrator," "Administrator of Highways," "Administrator of the Department of Transportation," or "Chairman of the Department of Transportation" appear in Article 9 they shall be deemed to include "municipal clerk". It is the intention of this subsection that the powers herein granted to municipalities for the purpose of acquiring rights-of-way shall be in addition to and supplementary to those powers granted in any local act or in any other general statute, and in any case in which the provisions of this subsection or Article 9 of this Chapter are in conflict with the provisions of any local act or any other provision of any general statute, then the governing body of the municipality may in its discretion proceed in accordance with the provisions of such local act or other general statute, or, as an alternative method of procedure, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection and Article 9 of this Chapter.
(h) Department Authority Concerning Rights-of-Way. - In the absence of an agreement, the Department of Transportation shall retain authority to pay the full cost of acquiring rights-of-way where the proposed project is deemed important to a coordinated State highway system.
(i) Changes to
Municipal Participation Agreement. - Either the municipality or the
Department of Transportation may at any time propose changes in the agreement
setting forth their respective responsibilities for right-of-way acquisition
by giving notice to the other party, but no change shall be effective until
it is adopted by both the municipal governing body and the Department of
Transportation.
(j) Municipality Party to Rights-of-Way Proceeding. - Any municipality that agrees to contribute any part of the cost of acquiring rights-of-way for any State highway system street or highway shall be a proper party in any proceeding in court relating to the acquisition of such rights-of-way.
(k) Specified County Participation. - In addition to the authority given to Burke, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg Counties by Chapter 478 of the 1993 Session Laws, these counties are authorized to participate in State highway improvement projects located anywhere in each respective county in accordance with this section."
Section 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2000.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 11th day of July, 2000.
s/ Marc Basnight
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor
Approved 10:20 a.m. this 2nd day of August, 2000