AN ACT to change when public hearings are required for economic development expenditures.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 158‑7.1(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Public Hearing. – Any appropriation or expenditure for economic development purposes pursuant to this section must be approved by the county or city governing body after a public hearing, which may be part of the public hearing on the annual budget pursuant to G.S. 159‑12 if the appropriation or expenditure is included in the annual budget. If the appropriation or expenditure is not included in the annual budget, the county or city shall hold at least one public hearing, publishing notice of the public hearing at least 10 days before the public hearing is held. If the appropriation or expenditure is for the acquisition of an interest in real property, the notice shall describe the interest to be acquired, the proposed acquisition cost of such interest, the governing body's intention to approve the acquisition, the source of funding for the acquisition and such other information needed to reasonably describe the acquisition. If the appropriation or expenditure is for the improvement of privately owned property by site preparation or by the extension of water and sewer lines to the property, the notice shall describe the improvements to be made, the proposed cost of making the improvements, the source of funding for the improvements, the public benefit to be derived from making the improvements, and any other information needed to reasonably describe the improvements and their purpose."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to appropriations and expenditures approved on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 28th day of June, 2019.

	s/	 Philip E. Berger
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

	s/	 Sarah Stevens
	 Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Roy Cooper
	 Governor

Approved 1:42 p.m. this 11th day of July, 2019