NC H1023

City councils may now define municipal service districts by ordinance upon receipt of a petition from a majority of real property owners in a proposed district, in addition to the existing council-initiated process.

Property owners may request exclusion from a proposed district or removal from an existing district if they demonstrate the property does not need the district's services to a greater extent than the rest of the city, with requests submitted at or within five days after the public hearing.

All municipal service district actions—including definition, extension, consolidation, and abolition—must now be adopted by ordinance (rather than resolution) and require passage at two separate city council meetings by majority vote.

Contracts with private agencies providing services in municipal service districts must include detailed accounting that identifies any subcontractors, including their names, locations, purposes, and amounts paid for work performed with city moneys.

The ordinance requirement applies to extension and reduction of district boundaries, with effective dates generally set for the beginning or end of fiscal years as determined by the city council.