A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to authorize the city of asheville to levy a Municipal quarter‑cent sales and use tax for public transportation upon a vote of the majority of voters in a referendum.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  This act applies to the City of Asheville only.
SECTION 2.  Subchapter VIII of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"Article 47.
"One‑Quarter Cent (1/4¢) Municipal Sales and Use Tax for Public Transportation.
"§ 105‑540.  Short title.
This Article is the One‑Quarter Cent (1/4¢) Municipal Sales and Use Tax for Public Transportation Act.
"§ 105‑541.  Definitions.
The definitions in G.S. 105‑164.3 and the following definitions apply in this Article:
(1)	Net proceeds. – Defined in G.S. 105‑472(a).
(2)	Public transportation system. – Any combination of real and personal property established for purposes of public transportation. The systems may include one or more of the following: structures, improvements, buildings, equipment, vehicle parking or passenger transfer facilities, railroads and railroad rights‑of‑way, rights‑of‑way, bus services, shared‑ride services, high‑occupancy vehicle facilities, carpool and vanpool programs, voucher programs, telecommunications and information systems, integrated fare systems, and the interconnected bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure that supports public transportation, bus lanes, and busways. The term does not include, however, streets, roads, or highways except to the extent they are dedicated to public transportation vehicles or to the extent they are necessary for access to vehicle parking or passenger transfer facilities.
"§ 105‑542.  Levy.
(a)	Authority. – If the majority of those voting in a referendum held pursuant to this Article vote for the levy of the tax, the governing body of the municipality may, by resolution and after 10 days' public notice, levy a local sales and use tax at a rate of one‑quarter percent (0.25%) in addition to any other State and local sales and use taxes levied pursuant to law.
(b)	Vote. – The governing body of the municipality may direct the county board of elections to conduct an advisory referendum on the question of whether to levy a local sales and use tax in the municipality as provided in this Article. The election shall be held on a date jointly agreed upon by the governing body of the municipality and the county board of elections and shall be held in accordance with the procedures of G.S. 163‑287, except that the election shall not be held within one year from the date of the last preceding election under this section.
(c)	Ballot Question. – The form of the question to be presented on a ballot for a special election concerning the levy of the tax authorized by this Article shall be:
"[ ] FOR	[ ] AGAINST
One‑quarter percent (0.25%) local sales and use taxes, in addition to the current local sales and use taxes, to be used only for public transportation systems."
"§ 105‑543.  Administration.
Except as provided in this Article, the adoption, levy, collection, administration, and repeal of the additional taxes authorized by this Article shall be in accordance with Article 39 of this Chapter. In applying the provisions of Article 39 of this Chapter to this Article, references to "this Article" mean Article 47 of this Chapter and references to "county," "counties," or "board of county commissioners" within Article 39 of this Chapter shall be interpreted as referring to "municipality," "municipalities," or "governing body of the municipality," respectively, for purposes of the tax authorized by this Article. G.S. 105‑468.1 is an administrative provision that applies to this Article. A tax levied under this Article does not apply to the sales price of food that is exempt from tax pursuant to G.S. 105‑164.13B or to the sales price of a bundled transaction taxable pursuant to G.S. 105‑467(a)(5a).
"§ 105‑544.  Distribution and use of tax.
(a)	Distribution. – The Secretary shall, on a monthly basis, distribute to each taxing municipality for which the Secretary collects the tax the net proceeds of the tax collected in that municipality under this Article. If the Secretary collects local sales or use taxes in a month and the taxes cannot be identified as being attributable to a particular taxing municipality, the Secretary shall allocate the taxes among the taxing municipalities in proportion to the amount of taxes collected in each municipality under this Article during that month and shall include them in the monthly distribution. Amounts collected by electronic funds transfer payments are included in the distribution for the month in which the return that applies to the payment is received.
(b)	Use. – A municipality may use the net proceeds of the tax levied under this Article only for financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining local public transportation systems. A municipality shall use the net proceeds to supplement and not to supplant or replace existing funds or other resources for public transportation systems."
SECTION 3.  For the first two fiscal years, beginning with the fiscal year during which the City of Asheville levies the tax authorized by this act, the Secretary may retain the Department's cost of collecting and administering the tax as determined by the Secretary, not to exceed three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000), from the gross proceeds of the tax, as reimbursement to the Department. All other costs of collecting and administering the tax shall be deducted from the gross proceeds of the tax in accordance with G.S. 105‑472(a).
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law. The provisions of G.S. 105‑466(c) apply to a tax levied under this act, except that the City must give the Secretary at least six months' advance notice of a tax levied under this act.