A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require a board of county commissioners to appropriate a per pupil amount of funds to a charter school for each student enrolled in the charter school who resides in a local school ADMINISTRATIVE unit located in that county.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 14A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding the following new section to read:
"§ 115C‑218.106.  Local funds for a charter school.
For each student enrolled in a charter school, the board of county commissioners of the county in which the local school administrative unit is located where the student resides shall appropriate to that charter school an amount equal to the per pupil appropriation from the county to the local school administrative unit or units for local current expense. By October 1 of each school year, the total membership of the charter school of students residing in the county for the budget year shall be determined and certified to the charter school and the board of county commissioners by the State Board of Education. The amount of the per pupil appropriation that consists of revenue derived from supplemental taxes shall only be provided to a charter school located in the tax district for which these taxes are levied and in which the student resides. Funds shall be transferred from the board of county commissioners to a charter school at the same time that funds are transferred to the local school administrative unit or units."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑218.105 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑218.105.  State funds for a charter school.
(a)	The State Board of Education shall allocate to each charter school:
(1)	An amount equal to the average per pupil allocation for average daily membership from the local school administrative unit allotments in which the charter school is located for each child attending the charter school except for the allocation for children with disabilities and for the allocation for children with limited English proficiency;
(2)	An additional amount for each child attending the charter school who is a child with disabilities; and
(3)	An additional amount for children with limited English proficiency attending the charter school, based on a formula adopted by the State Board.
In accordance with G.S. 115C‑218.7 and G.S. 115C‑218.8, the State Board shall allow for annual adjustments to the amount allocated to a charter school based on its enrollment growth in school years subsequent to the initial year of operation.
In the event a child with disabilities leaves the charter school and enrolls in a public school during the first 60 school days in the school year, the charter school shall return a pro rata amount of funds allocated for that child to the State Board, and the State Board shall reallocate those funds to the local school administrative unit in which the public school is located. In the event a child with disabilities enrolls in a charter school during the first 60 school days in the school year, the State Board shall allocate to the charter school the pro rata amount of additional funds for children with disabilities.
(b)	Funds allocated by the State Board of Education may be used to enter into operational and financing leases for real property or mobile classroom units for use as school facilities for charter schools and may be used for payments on loans made to charter schools for facilities, equipment, or operations. However, State funds shall not be used to obtain any other interest in real property or mobile classroom units. No indebtedness of any kind incurred or created by the charter school shall constitute an indebtedness of the State or its political subdivisions, and no indebtedness of the charter school shall involve or be secured by the faith, credit, or taxing power of the State or its political subdivisions. Every contract or lease into which a charter school enters shall include the previous sentence. The school also may own land and buildings it obtains through non‑State sources.

	

	

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SECTION 3.  G.S. 153A‑149(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Each county may levy property taxes without restriction as to rate or amount for the following purposes:
(1)	Courts. – To provide adequate facilities for and the county's share of the cost of operating the General Court of Justice in the county.
(2)	Debt Service. – To pay the principal of and interest on all general obligation bonds and notes of the county.
(3)	Deficits. – To supply an unforeseen deficiency in the revenue (other than revenues of public enterprises), when revenues actually collected or received fall below revenue estimates made in good faith and in accordance with the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act.
(4)	Elections. – To provide for all federal, State, district and county elections.
(5)	Jails. – To provide for the operation of a jail and other local confinement facilities.
(6)	Joint Undertakings. – To cooperate with any other county, city, or political subdivision in providing any of the functions, services, or activities listed in this subsection.
(7)	Schools. – To provide for the county's share of the cost of kindergarten, elementary, and secondary public schools, including charter schools chartered under Article 14A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes, and post‑secondary public education.
(8)	Social Services. – To provide for public assistance required by Chapters 108A and 111 of the General Statutes."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 115C‑448(d) is repealed.
SECTION 5.  Section 8.35(e) of S.L. 2014‑100 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 8.35.(e)  The State Board of Education shall provide State funding to a virtual charter school participating in the pilot program as provided in G.S. 115C‑218.105. The amount allocated pursuant to G.S. 115C‑218.105 shall not, however, include the allocation for low‑wealth counties supplemental funding and the allocation for small county supplemental funding. Virtual charter schools participating in the pilot program shall also be subject to the requirements in G.S. 115C‑218.105(b) and G.S. 115C‑218.106. The amount of local funds provided to participating schools pursuant to G.S. 115C‑218.106 shall be the lesser of seven hundred ninety dollars ($790.00) per pupil or the amount computed in accordance with G.S. 115C‑218.106."
SECTION 6.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with county budget ordinances adopted on or after that date.