A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide an exception to the development tier designation formula for certain small counties with high poverty rates.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 143B‑437.08(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Adjustment for Certain Small Counties. – Regardless of the actual development factor, the following adjustment shall apply:
(1)	Any county that has a population of less than 12,000 shall automatically be ranked one of the 40 highest counties.
(2)	Any county that has a population of less than 50,000 shall automatically be ranked one of the 80 highest counties.
(3)	Any county that has a population of less than 20,000 and more than seventeen percent (17%) of its population below the federal poverty level according to the most recent federal decennial census shall automatically be ranked one of the 40 highest counties.
(4)	Any county that has a population of less than 50,000 and more than nineteen percent (19%) of its population below the federal poverty level according to the most recent federal decennial census shall automatically be ranked one of the 40 highest counties."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to designations made on or after that date.