NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1965 SESSION

CHAPTER 682
HOUSE BILL 619

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR JOINT CONSTRUCTION, ACQUISITION AND FINANCING OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS BY COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. Chapter 153 of the General Statutes is hereby amended by adding a new Article to be numbered Article 7A and to read as follows:
"Article 7A.
"Joint County‑Municipal Buildings.
"G. S. 153‑54. Joint construction or acquisition. Notwithstanding any limitation provided by any general, public‑local or private law, the governing bodies of any county and municipality in such county are hereby authorized and empowered jointly to construct or acquire public buildings for housing offices, departments, bureaus and agencies of the county government and the government of the municipality, including space and facilities for courts, libraries, auditoria, coliseums or other similar facilities, and to acquire necessary land and equipment therefor, provided that the land upon which the buildings are to be constructed or the buildings which are to be acquired for such purpose are located in the municipality which is acting jointly with the county; and provided further that such buildings may be constructed upon land owned by the county or municipality as hereinafter provided.
"G. S. 153‑55. Procedure; contracts. The governing bodies of such county and municipality shall determine in joint or separate sessions, the location of the buildings, the general dimensions and specifications, the uses which the county and the municipality shall each make of the joint buildings, the apportionment to each of a share of the cost of the buildings, the cost of any necessary land and equipment, and the cost of maintenance and operation thereof, and all other necessary details, and such county and municipality shall enter into such contracts or agreements with each other as they may deem necessary with respect to such determinations. The title to any land so acquired, together with the buildings thereon and any such buildings to be constructed thereon for the purpose provided in this Act, shall be vested in the county and the municipality in the manner determined by any such contract or agreement. In the event that the land is owned by either the county or the municipality at the time of the execution of the contract or agreement, such contract or agreement may provide for payment to such county or municipality of the cost of the other's share of such land.
"G. S. 153‑56. Issuance of bonds for construction or acquisition. For its share of financing the cost of acquiring or constructing such buildings, including the acquisition of necessary land and equipment therefor, the county may issue general obligation bonds or notes as authorized by the County Finance Act, the same being Article 9 of Chapter 153 of the General Statutes, and for its share of financing such cost the municipality may issue general obligation bonds or notes as authorized by the Municipal Finance Act, the same being Subchapter III of Chapter 160 of the General Statutes, and the special approval of the General Assembly is hereby given for the issuance of bonds or notes for such special purposes.
"G. S. 153‑57. Conveyances prohibited except by joint action; exceptions. No land or buildings acquired or constructed as herein provided shall be sold, encumbered, conveyed or otherwise disposed of except by joint action of the county and the municipality; provided however, that the county or the municipality may purchase the interest of the other upon such terms as may mutually be agreed upon.
"G. S. 153‑58. Powers in addition and supplementary to existing powers. The powers granted by this Act are in addition to and not in substitution for existing powers of counties and municipalities to construct, acquire and finance the cost of public buildings, individually or acting jointly with each other."
Sec. la. This Act shall not apply to Lenoir County.
Sec. 2. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 25th day of May, 1965.