A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to assist gaston and lincoln counties in resolving their common boundary by allowing them to vary from the line established by the 1963 general assembly to recognize historical practice.
Whereas, the General Assembly, by passage of Chapter 596 of the 1963 Session Laws, established the official county line of Gaston County; and
Whereas, that act provided for the map to be recorded in Gaston County and the contiguous counties, and constituted the official county line; and
Whereas, the map was never recorded or implemented, but was recently discovered as Gaston and Lincoln Counties worked to establish their common boundaries, which were recognized by more modern mapping and surveying to be inaccurate; and
Whereas, historical patterns of recognition of the county line have grown up, recognized by tax offices, school systems, and boards of election; and
Whereas, the two counties feel hamstrung by the 1963 local act and by the current procedures in G.S. 153A‑18 for settling boundary disputes; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Section 1 of Chapter 596 of the 1963 Session Laws reads as rewritten:
"Section 1. (a) The official county lines of Gaston County, and the official township lines of the various townships in said county shall be as indicated on that certain map entitled "Gaston County, N. C., map of county and township lines, dated April, 1963, surveyed by Findlay, Witheres, McConnoughey, Inc., Registered Surveyors."
(b)	Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the Counties of Gaston and Lincoln shall establish in accordance with G.S. 153A‑18 the line between those two counties as provided on that map, but respecting to the extent practicable the line as it has been observed in practice, provided that the line does not make any territory in one county noncontiguous to the remainder of the county. In any case where the tax treatment of a parcel has in practice been divided in some proportion between the two counties without drawing of an actual line, the two counties may divide the properties proportionally between the two counties. Until the line has been established in accordance with this subsection, the line shall continue to be administered as it has been in practice, rather than as provided by subsection (a) of this section."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.