Annexation of PUV Land/School Capacity.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 3
HOUSE BILL 348
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/30/25
Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 6/24/25

Short Title: Annexation of PUV Land/School Capacity. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
March 11, 2025
*H348-v-3*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT PRIOR TO ANNEXING CERTAIN PRESENT-USE VALUE 2
PROPERTY, A CITY MUS T OBTAIN APPROVAL FROM THE BOARD OF COUN TY 3
COMMISSIONERS. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. G.S. 160A-58.2 reads as rewritten: 6
"§ 160A-58.2. Public hearing. 7
(a) Upon receipt of a petition for annexation under this Part, the city council shall cause 8
the city clerk to investigate the petition, and to certify the results of his investigation. If the clerk 9
certifies that upon investigation the petition appears to be valid, the council shall fix a date for a 10
public hearing on the annexation. Notice of the hearing shall be published once at least 10 days 11
before the date of hearing. 12
(b) At the hearing, any person residing in o r owning property in the area proposed for 13
annexation and any resident of the annexing city may appear and be heard on the questions of 14
the sufficiency of the petition and the desirability of the annexation. If the council then finds and 15
determines that (i ) the area described in the petition meets all of the standards set out in 16
G.S. 160A-58.1(b), (ii) the petition bears the signatures of all of the owners of real property 17
within the area proposed for annexation (except those not required to sign by G.S. 160A-58.1(a)), 18
(iii) the petition is otherwise valid, and (iv) the public health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants 19
of the city and of the area proposed for annexation will be best served by the annexation, the 20
council may adopt an ordinance annexing the area described in the petition. The ordinance may 21
be made effective immediately or on any specified date within six months from the date of 22
passage. 23
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, prior to the public 24
hearing, the cit y council shall direct the city planning department to consult with the planning 25
department of the county with jurisdiction over the area proposed for annexation to determine 26
whether zoning the area for residential use will increase the number of students attending public 27
school in the county to more than one hundred percent (100%) of the county 's current capacity, 28
if the area meets all of the following: 29
(1) Is agricultural land, forestland, or horticultural land , as defined in 30
G.S. 105-277.2, or has been enrolled in present-use value taxation within the 31
previous three calendar years. 32
(2) Is not contiguous to the city's primary corporate limits. 33
(3) Is not within the city's extraterritorial planning jurisdiction. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 348-Third Edition
(d) If the planning department finds that zoning the area for residential use will increase 1
the number of students as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the board of county 2
commissioners with jurisdiction over the area must approve the annexation prior to the city 3
council adopting the ann exation ordinance. If the board of county commissioners does not 4
approve the annexation, the city council may not proceed with the adoption of the annexation 5
ordinance unless it agrees to pay the county the amount necessary to come back into compliance 6
with school capacity." 7
SECTION 2. This act applies only to counties with a population of 150,000 residents 8
or more as of the most recent federal decennial census. 9
SECTION 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025, and applies to petitions for 10
annexation received on or after that date. 11