Source: https://ncbilldrafting.wordpress.com/2007/07/08/county-recreation-districts/
Timestamp: 2018-06-19 16:28:46
Document Index: 580001156

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 153', '§ 153', '§ 153', '§ 153', '§ 153', '§ 153']

County recreation districts | Drafting Musings
County recreation districts
I got an emailed question yesterday, which I will answer below:
Q1) Can a county commissioners create a special recreational tax district to fund a civic center that provides functions such as: a gym, weight rooms, exercise rooms, meeting rooms, and an indoor pool.
Q2) If they can, do we have to have a referendum or just a vote of the county commissioners?
ANSWER: Yes. a county can create a special tax district for recreation, see below. There is no provision for a referendum, unless the county wants to exempt the tax from the $1.50 per $100.00 rate limit. A mailed notice and a public hearing is required, if the process starts now the district can be established as early as 7/1/2008 with the tax starting with the 2008-2009 fiscal year. The full statutes involved are here.
In fact, there are nine types of special districts any county can create under a provision of the State Constitution enacted in 1969 (Article V, Section 2(4)) . (list of the types of districts and excerpts of the statutes applicable to county recreation districts are below the fold)
TYPES OF COUNTY SERVICE DISTRICTS:
(4) Sewage collection and disposal systems of all types, including septic tank systems or other on‑site collection or disposal facilities or systems.
STATUTES USED TO CREATE A COUNTY RECREATION SERVICE DISTRICT
County Service Districts; …..
§ 153A‑300. Title; effective date.
This Article may be cited as “The County Service District Act of 1973,” and is enacted pursuant to Article V, Sec. 2(4) of the Constitution of North Carolina, effective July 1, 1973.
§ 153A‑301. Purposes for which districts may be established.
§ 153A‑302. Definition of service districts.
(a) Standards. – In determining whether to establish a proposed service district, the board of commissioners shall consider all of the following:
(a1) Findings. – The board of commissioners may establish a service district if, upon the information and evidence it receives, the board finds that all of the following apply:
(b) Report. – Before the public hearing required by subsection (c), the board of commissioners shall cause to be prepared a report containing:
(c) Hearing and Notice. – The board of commissioners shall hold a public hearing before adopting any resolution defining a new service district under this section. Notice of the hearing shall state the date, hour, and place of the hearing and its subject, and shall include a map of the proposed district and a statement that the report required by subsection (b) is available for public inspection in the office of the clerk to the board. The notice shall be published at least once not less than one week before the date of the hearing. In addition, it shall be mailed at least four weeks before the date of the hearing by any class of U.S. mail which is fully prepaid to the owners as shown by the county tax records as of the preceding January 1 (and at the address shown thereon) of all property located within the proposed district. The person designated by the board to mail the notice shall certify to the board that the mailing has been completed and his certificate is conclusive in the absence of fraud.
(d) Effective Date. – The resolution defining a service district shall take effect at the beginning of a fiscal year commencing after its passage, as determined by the board of commissioners.
§ 153A‑305. Required provision or maintenance of services.
(a) New District. – When a county defines a new service district, it shall provide, maintain, or let contracts for the services for which the residents of the district are being taxed within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year, after the effective date of the definition of the district.
§ 153A‑307. Taxes authorized; rate limitation.
Property taxes may not be levied within any district established pursuant to this Article in excess of a rate on each one hundred dollars ($100.00) value of property subject to taxation which, when added to the rate levied countywide for purposes subject to the rate limitation, would exceed the rate limitation established in G.S. 153A‑ 149(c), unless the portion of the rate in excess of this limitation is submitted to and approved by a majority of the qualified voters residing within the district. Any referendum held pursuant to this paragraph shall be held and conducted as provided in G.S. 153A‑149.
§ 153A‑308. Bonds authorized.
A county may issue its general obligation bonds under the Local Government Bond Act to finance services, facilities, or functions provided within a service district. If a proposed bond issue is required by law to be submitted to and approved by the voters of the county, and if the proceeds of the proposed bond issue are to be used in connection with a service that is or, if the bond issue is approved, will be provided only for one or more service districts or at a higher level in service districts than countywide, the proposed bond issue must be approved concurrently by a majority of those voting throughout the entire county and by a majority of the total of those voting in all of the affected or to‑be‑affected service districts.
This entry was posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 10:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
One Response to County recreation districts
There must be something wrong with me as I found this absolutely fascinating. Thanks for answering so thoroughly.