AN ACT to AMEND the authority of cities concerning WATER and wastewater treatment and distribution systems.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 160A‑321 reads as rewritten:
"§ 160A‑321.  Sale, lease, or discontinuance of city‑owned enterprise.
(a)	A city is authorized to sell or lease as lessor any enterprise that it may own upon any terms and conditions that the council may deem best. However, except as to transfers to another governmental entity pursuant to G.S. 160A‑274 or as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a city‑owned enterprise shall not be sold, leased to another, or discontinued unless the proposal to sell, lease, or discontinue is first submitted to a vote of the people and approved by a majority of those who vote thereon. Voter approval shall not be required for the sale, lease, or discontinuance of airports, off‑street parking systems and facilities, or solid waste collection and disposal systems.
(b)	For the sale, lease, or discontinuance of water treatment systems, water distribution systems, or wastewater collection and treatment systems, a city may, but is not required to, submit to its voters the question of whether such sale, lease, or discontinuance shall be undertaken. The referendum is to be conducted pursuant to the general and local laws applicable to special elections in such city."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective January 1, 2012.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 15th day of June, 2011.

	s/	 Walter H. Dalton
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Thom Tillis
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 Governor

Approved 12:08 p.m. this 23rd day of June, 2011