S844 - Eliminate Use of Development Tiers

• Requires state departments and agencies to discontinue using economic development tier designations by July 1, 2017, and independently develop replacement criteria for programs including farmland preservation, wastewater/drinking water reserves, housing tax credits, and transportation funding.

• Replaces the tier system with an "economic distress index" based on unemployment rates, employment-to-population ratios, median household income, average wages, and educational attainment, with rankings published from lowest to highest index scores rather than tier categories.

• Creates the North Carolina Commission on Economic Development for Distressed Communities to study and recommend comprehensive strategies for identifying and assisting economically distressed communities, with a final report due by March 1, 2018.

• Modifies economic development incentive programs (Job Development Investment Grants, One North Carolina Fund, Rural Infrastructure Authority) to use county rankings under the new index rather than fixed tier designations to determine grant amounts, local match requirements, and eligibility thresholds.

• Appropriates $200,000 for fiscal years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 to fund the commission's work.