A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ALLOW MUNICIPALITIES TO CREATE SPECIAL TAX DISTRICTS FOR canal dredging for NAVIGATION, SO AS TO ALLOW CONTINUED ACCESS TO THE INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY AND THE atlantic OCEAN, and to allow creation of a capital reserve fund for such district notwithstanding that the item is maintenance, so as to allow accumulation of funds for that purpose.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 160A‑536 reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Purposes. – The city council of any city may define any number of service districts in order to finance, provide, or maintain for the districts one or more of the following services, facilities, or functions in addition to or to a greater extent than those financed, provided or maintained for the entire city:
(1)	Beach erosion control and flood and hurricane protection works.
(1a)	Any service, facility, or function which the municipality may by law provide in the city, and including but not limited to placement of utility wiring underground, placement of period street lighting, placement of specially designed street signs and street furniture, landscaping, specialized street and sidewalk paving, and other appropriate improvements to the rights‑of‑way that generally preserve the character of an historic district; provided that this subdivision only applies to a service district which, at the time of its creation, had the same boundaries as an historic district created under Part 3A of Article 19 of this Chapter.
(2)	Downtown revitalization projects.
(2a)	Urban area revitalization projects.
(3)	Drainage projects.
(3a)	Sewage collection and disposal systems of all types, including septic tank systems or other on‑site collection or disposal facilities or systems.
(3b)	Lighting at interstate highway interchange ramps.
(4)	Off‑street parking facilities.
(5)	Watershed improvement projects, including but not limited to watershed improvement projects as defined in General Statutes Chapter 139; drainage projects, including but not limited to the drainage projects provided for by General Statutes Chapter 156; and water resources development projects, including but not limited to the federal water resources development projects provided for by General Statutes Chapter 143, Article 21.
(6)	Canal dredging to aid in navigational access from private property to public waters."
SECTION 2.  Article 23 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 160A-545. Capital reserve funds.
A city may establish a capital reserve fund under Part 2 of Article 3 of Chapter 159 of the General Statutes for a district established under G.S. 160A-536(a)(6), notwithstanding that it could not issue bonds for such a purpose as would otherwise be required by G.S. 159-18."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 160A‑540 reads as rewritten:
"§ 160A‑540.  Required provision or maintenance of services.
(a)	New District. – When a city defines a new service district, it shall provide, maintain, or let contracts for the services for which the residents of the district are being taxed within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year, after the effective date of the definition of the  district, except that if at the same meeting it adopts a resolution creating a district under G.S. 160A-536(a)(6) it establishes a capital reserve fund to build up funds for the purpose of providing the service, it may delay providing the service until sufficient funds have accumulated, but in no case to exceed five years. Notice of the intent to establish such a fund and defer providing the service must be included in the public hearing notice under G.S. 160A-537.
(b)	Extended District. – When a city annexes territory for a service district, it shall provide, maintain, or let contracts for the services provided or maintained throughout the district to the residents of the area annexed to the district within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year, after the effective date of the annexation.
(c)	Consolidated District. – When a city consolidates two or more service districts, one of which has had provided or maintained a lower level of services, it shall increase the services within that district (or let contracts therefor) to a level comparable to those provided or maintained elsewhere in the consolidated district within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year, after the effective date of the consolidation."
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.