A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to allow the board of commissioners of swain county to manage the swain county settlement trust fund and to withdraw certain assets from the fund.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 147‑69.6 reads as rewritten:
"§ 147‑69.6.  Swain County Settlement Trust Fund.
(a)	The Swain County Settlement Trust Fund is established as a special fund in the Office of the State Treasurer under the management of the Board of Commissioners of Swain County. The Fund shall consist of the proceeds of any payments made by the United States in settlement of the 1943 agreement between Swain County and the United States Department of Interior, such other contributions as Swain County or other entities may choose to make to the Fund, and the interest and other investment income earned by the Fund. For the purposes of this section, the initial balance of the Fund shall be defined as fifty‑two million dollars ($52,000,000).
The Board of Commissioners of Swain County may invest the assets of the Fund in investment programs established by the State Treasurer for non‑pension participants pursuant to subdivisions (b)(1) through (6) and subdivision (b)(8) of G.S. 147‑69.2. Contributions to the Fund are irrevocable. Assets in the Fund may be disbursed only to Swain County or, subject to subsection (i) of this section, to the Retirement Systems Division of the Department of State Treasurer.
	
(c)	No portion of the initial balance of the Fund may be withdrawn by the Board of Commissioners of Swain County unless a certification is made by the Swain County Board of Elections that two‑thirds of the registered voters of Swain County voted in favor of the withdrawal and subsequent expenditure of the amount requested in a referendum conducted under subsection (f) of this section.
(c1)	Subject to subdivision (c) of this section and to any procedures or restrictions the investment programs in which the Fund invests, the Board of Commissioners of Swain County may withdraw assets from the Fund. Withdrawals from the Fund shall occur no more frequently than once per quarter, and the amount of a withdrawal shall not exceed the amount by which the current balance in the fund exceeds the initial balance.
(d)	Funds withdrawn by the Board of Commissioners of Swain County under this section shall be managed by the county in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act as amended from time to time.
(e)	No part of the initial balance of the Swain County Settlement Trust Fund or of any interest or other income earned on that initial balance may be paid to or received by any agent or attorney on account of services rendered in connection with negotiating the settlement agreement between Swain County and the United States Department of Interior or obtaining the monetary settlement from the United States.
(f)	The Board of Commissioners of Swain County may direct the Swain County Board of Elections to conduct an advisory referendum on the question of whether any portion of the initial balance of the Fund should be disbursed to and expended by the county for a particular purpose. The election shall be held in accordance with the procedures of G.S. 163A‑1592. The question to be presented on the ballot shall disclose the specific purpose proposed for expenditure of the initial balance of the Trust Fund and the amount proposed for expenditure.
(g)	The Swain County Settlement Trust Fund is subject to the oversight of the State Auditor pursuant to Article 5A of Chapter 147 of the General Statutes.
(h)	The Swain County Settlement Trust Fund and the income therefrom shall not take the place of or be counted against any other State appropriations or program providing funds or disbursements to Swain County.
(i)	Upon notification by the Board of Trustees of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System or the Board of Trustees of the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System to the State Treasurer and to the Board of Commissioners of Swain County as to the default on any contributions due to the retirement system of Swain County Schools, the State Treasurer shall intercept from any withdrawal of assets from the Fund by the Board of Commissioners of Swain County an amount equal to the sum of all payments due to the Retirement Systems Division of the Department of State Treasurer and shall transmit that amount to the Retirement Systems Division."
SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 147‑69.6(a), as amended by Section 1 of this act, reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The Swain County Settlement Trust Fund is established as a special fund in the Office of the State Treasurer under the management of the Board of Commissioners of Swain County. The Fund shall consist of the proceeds of any payments made by the United States in settlement of the 1943 agreement between Swain County and the United States Department of Interior, such other contributions as Swain County or other entities may choose to make to the Fund, and the interest and other investment income earned by the Fund. For the purposes of this section, the initial balance of the Fund shall be defined as fifty‑two million dollars ($52,000,000).
The Board of Commissioners of Swain County may invest the assets of the Fund in investment programs established by the State Treasurer for non‑pension participants pursuant to subdivisions (b)(1) through (6) and subdivision (b)(8) of G.S. 147‑69.2. Contributions to the Fund are irrevocable. Assets in the Fund may be disbursed only to Swain County."
SECTION 2.(b)  G.S. 147‑69.6(i), as enacted by Section 1 of this act, is repealed.
SECTION 2.(c)  This section becomes effective July 1, 2024.
SECTION 3.  Except as otherwise provided, this act becomes effective July 1, 2019.