NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1965 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 963

HOUSE BILL 860

 

 

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE COUNTIES TO ESTABLISH CAPITAL PUBLIC HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH CENTER RESERVE FUNDS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  Appropriations; Depositary. (a) A capital outlay budget of any Public Health and/or Mental Health Administrative Unit within the county may contain an amount to be appropriated for payment into a special fund which shall be designated, "Capital Public Health and Mental Health Center Reserve Fund", hereinafter referred to as "the reserve fund." Such amount, together with similar amounts which may be contained in subsequent capital outlay budgets of any such Public Health and Mental Health Administrative Units, shall be for the purpose of anticipating future needs for Public Health and/or Mental Health Center capital outlay and for financing all or a part of the cost thereof: Provided, withdrawals from the reserve fund, as hereinafter provided, for the cost of/or needs in a particular Public Health and/or Mental Health Administrative Unit shall be limited to the amount or the aggregate amounts contained in the approved capital outlay budget or budgets of the particular unit, together with a proportionate share of the net earnings from investment of the reserve fund.

(b)        Upon approval of a capital outlay budget by the board of county commissioners, which budget contains such amounts so appropriated, the reserve fund shall be deemed to have been duly established. The reserve fund shall be maintained as a separate account from all other funds, and payments thereto or deposits therein shall be in such bank or trust company as the board of county commissioners may designate as depositary thereof. The board shall promptly designate such depositary upon establishment of the reserve fund, and all such deposits shall be secured as provided by G.S. 159-28 of the Local Government Act.

Sec. 2.  Withdrawals From the Reserve Fund. Each withdrawal from the reserve fund shall be authorized by order passed by the board of county commissioners and upon petition therefor as hereinafter provided. The Board of Health and/or the Mental Health Authority in the county may petition for a withdrawal, which petition shall be by resolution duly adopted by said Board of Health and/or Mental Health Authority, and a certified copy of such resolution shall be transmitted to the board of county commissioners. The resolution shall set forth:

(1)        A request to the board of county commissioners for the withdrawal;

(2)        The amount of such withdrawal;

(3)        A brief description of the needs and the name or location of the Public Health Center and/or Mental Health Center where such needs exist;

(4)        A statement that the withdrawal is for the purpose of financing the cost of such needs either together with other funds available for the same, specifying their amounts and source, or that there are no other funds available therefor, as the case may be; and

(5)        A declaration that the fulfillment of such needs is necessary for the maintenance of the Public Health Center and/or Mental Health Center as required by the Constitution and laws of North Carolina.

Upon receipt of the petition by the board of county commissioners, said board of commissioners may, in its discretion, pass an order authorizing the withdrawal either in conformity with the petition or with modification thereof or may decline to pass such order: Provided, said board of county commissioners shall not pass an order authorizing withdrawal of an amount in excess of the amount set forth in the petition or in excess of the amount in the reserve fund to the credit of the administrative unit requesting withdrawal. Each withdrawal so authorized shall be by check drawn on the depositary for the amount equal to the amount so authorized, which check shall be signed by the chairman of the board of county commissioners and by the county accountant and shall be deposited for disbursement in the same manner as other capital outlay funds are disbursed.

Sec. 3.  Investment of Moneys in Reserve Fund. Pending their use for the purposes hereinbefore authorized, all or part of the moneys in the capital reserve fund may be invested in either bonds, notes, bills, or certificates of indebtedness of the United States of America; or in bonds or notes of any agency or instrumentality of the United States of America the payment of principal and interest of which is guaranteed by the United States of America; or in bonds or notes of the State of North Carolina; or in bonds of any county, city or town of North Carolina which have been approved by the Local Government Commission for the purpose of such investment; or in shares of any building and loan association organized and licensed under the laws of this State, or in shares of any federal savings and loan association organized under the laws of the United States with its principal office in this State, to the extent that such investment is insured by the Federal Government or any agency thereof. The proceeds of the sale or realization of such investments and any interest received from such investments shall accrue to the capital reserve fund.

Sec. 4.  Unlawful Expenditure or Withdrawal of Reserve Fund. It shall be unlawful to withdraw or expend, or to cause to be withdrawn or expended, all or any part of the capital reserve fund except as authorized by this Article.

Sec. 5.  Accounting For Reserve Fund. The county accountant shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts, disbursements and assets of the reserve fund and, at the close of such fiscal year and at such other times as the board of county commissioners may request, prepare and submit to said board a statement of receipts and disbursements and of the assets of the reserve fund. He shall annually, and within thirty days after the close of each fiscal year, furnish such statement to the Board of Health and/or Mental Health Administrative Unit in the county.

Sec. 6.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 7.  This Act shall become effective upon its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 11th day of June, 1965.