§ 105-570. County Vehicle Registration Tax; shared with municipalities. - North Carolina Statutes

Article 52.

County VehicleRegistration Tax.

§ 105‑570.  CountyVehicle Registration Tax; shared with municipalities.

(a)        A county isconsidered an authority under Article 51 of this Chapter, and the board ofcommissioners of that county is considered the board of trustees of theauthority under Article 51, except that the maximum tax that may be levied by acounty under this Article is seven dollars ($7.00) per year.

(b)        A county may notlevy a tax under this Article unless the county or at least one unit of localgovernment in the county operates a public transportation system.

(c)        Any tax leviedunder this Article shall, after the receipt of those funds from the Division ofMotor Vehicles, be retained or distributed by the county on a per capita basisas it receives those funds as follows:

(1)        Pro rata (i)retained by the county based on the population of the county that is not in anincorporated area, and (ii) distributed to the municipalities within the countybased on the population of that municipality that is located within thatcounty. To determine the population of each county and municipality, the countyshall use the most recent annual estimate of population certified by the StateBudget Officer.

(2)        Notwithstandingsubdivision (1) of this subsection, if a municipality to which funds are to bedistributed does not operate a public transportation system, the population ofthat municipality shall be excluded from the calculations of subdivision (1) ofthis subsection and no distribution shall be made to that municipality.

(3)        Notwithstandingsubdivision (1) of this subsection, if a county for which funds are to beretained does not operate a public transportation system, the population ofthat county not in an incorporated area shall be excluded from the calculationsof subdivision (1) of this subsection, and the county shall not retain anyfunds.

If a county that does notretain funds or a municipality that does not receive an allocation of funds onaccount of subdivision (2) or (3) of this subsection begins to operate a publictransportation system, that county or municipality shall begin retaining orreceiving funds beginning the first day of July that is more than 30 daysthereafter.

(d)        The proceeds of atax imposed under this Article may be used by that county or municipality onlyto operate a public transportation system, including financing, constructing,operating, and maintaining that public transportation system. The term"public transportation system" has the same meaning as defined inG.S. 105‑506.1.

(e)        As used in thissection, operation of a public transportation system includes a contract orinterlocal agreement for operation of the public transportation system byanother county or municipality, or by a transportation authority created under(i) a municipal charter; or (ii) Article 25, 26, or 27 of Chapter 160A of theGeneral Statutes. As used in this section, operation of a public transportationsystem also includes a contract with a private entity for operation of thepublic transportation system.

(f)         An interlocalagreement under this section may also deal with allocation of funds between amunicipality and county for operation by the county of a human services publictransportation system within the municipality when the municipality alsooperates a public transportation system.

(g)        This Article issupplemental to Article 51 of this Chapter.  (2009‑527, s. 4.)