North Carolina SB 127: Lower Taxes for Scotland County.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 2
SENATE BILL 127
Finance Committee Substitute Adopted 3/18/25

Short Title: Lower Taxes for Scotland County. (Local)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
February 24, 2025
*S127-v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE SCOTLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS TO 2
ADOPT A SCHOOL BUDGET IN ITS DISCRETION, TO ELIMINATE THE 3
MANDATORY SCHOOL FUNDING FLOOR, AND TO MAKE CONFORMING 4
CHANGES. 5
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 6
SECTION 1. Chapter 707 of the 1963 Session Laws, as amended by S.L. 1973-306, 7
2002-66, 2004-203, and 2006-171, reads as rewritten: 8
"Section 1. The purposes of this Act, among others, are to provide an enabling Statute, in 9
addition to other Statutes which may be available for such purposes, for the merger of the 10
Laurinburg City School Administrative Unit and the Scotland County School Administrative 11
Unit. 12
"Sec. 2. The Laurinburg City Board of Education and the Scotland County Board of 13
Education, by majority vote of the full membership of each of said Boards, may jointly petition 14
the Scotland County Board of Commissioners for a county-wide election on the following 15
subjects: 16
(a) The merger of the Laurinburg City School Administrative Unit and the Scotland 17
County School Administrative Unit and their respective Boards of Education. 18
(b) The construction of a new consolidated high school to be established to serve the 19
students assigned to Gibson High School, Laurel Hill High School, Laurinburg High School, and 20
Wagram High School, and the issuance of bonds pursuant to the County Finance Act, as 21
amended, for construction of said consolidated high school and for other school purposes in an 22
amount to be determined by the Scotland County Board of Commissioners upon the 23
recommendation of the existing City and County Boards of Education. 24
(c) To require the Laurinburg-Scotland County Board of Education to request and the 25
Scotland County Board of Commissioners to appropriate annually from any local sources, 26
including both general and supplemental tax revenues, such funds as will provide, at a minimum, 27
current expense expenditures per student from local funds which shall be no less than the average 28
current expense expenditures per student from local funds throughout the State, as determined 29
by the latest certification of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 30
(d) To authorize the County Commissioners to levy a county-wide supplemental school 31
tax not to exceed fifty cents (50¢) per one hundred dollar valuation. 32
"Sec. 3. Upon the receipt of such petition, it shall be the duty of the Scotland County Board 33
of Commissioners to call an election upon the foregoing subjects within sixty (60) days thereafter 34
and fix the date for the same. The provisions of this Act, relating to the merger of the Laurinburg 35
City School Administrative Unit and the Scotland County School Administrative Unit, shall be 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 127-Second Edition
contingent upon the approval, by a majority of the voters voting in a county-wide election, of all 1
the proposals as set out in subsections (a) through (d) of Section 2 of this Act. The said election 2
shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of the General Statutes of North 3
Carolina. 4
"Sec. 4.(a) The Scotland County Board of Education shall be comprised of 8 members. Five 5
of the members shall be residents of the Stewartsville Township and 3 of the members shall be 6
residents of any of the remaining 3 townships in Scotland County at large. 7
(b) Beginning with a primary election to be held in 1974, 2 members who shall be 8
residents of the Stewartsville Township and 2 members, who shall be residents of the other 3 9
townships at large shall be elected to membership on the Scotland County Board of Education 10
for initial terms of 4 years to expire in 1978. Beginning with a primary election to be held in 11
1976, 3 members, who shall be residents of the Stewartsville Township, and 1 member, who shall 12
be a resident of any of the other 3 townships, shall be elected to membership on the said board 13
for initial terms of 4 years to expire in 1980. In 1978 when the initial terms of the first 4 members 14
expire and in the regular county-wide biennial election of that year and in each regular 15
county-wide biennial election thereafter, four members shall be elected for terms of four years 16
each. 17
(c) The initial election for the 4 year terms of the 2 Stewartsville Township members and 18
the 2 members at large shall be conducted according to the procedure set forth in subsections 19
(d)(1) and (2) which provide for the regular elections for these seats beginning in 1978 and the 20
initial election for the four-year terms of the other 3 Stewartsville Township members and the 21
other 1 member at large shall be conducted in accordance with the proced