§ 54-31. County convenience centers; availability fees.

(a)

Pursuant to G.S. 153A-292(b) there is hereby imposed on the owner of every improved property located in the county (including those located within the corporate limits of each municipality in the county) an annual fee per dwelling or dwelling unit for the availability of the convenience centers located throughout the county. This availability fee shall be established from time to time pursuant to G.S. 153A-102 and imposed and collected on a fiscal year basis. The availability fee shall not exceed the direct and indirect cost of operating the county disposal facilities, including the convenience centers. The availability fee shall be billed with the property taxes of all owners of improved property in the county, including those who live within the corporate limits of any municipality, and including owners of mobile home parks and apartment complexes that use a commercial dumpster for municipal solid waste collection. It shall be subject to the same discounts, interest, penalties and discovery procedures as property taxes. The availability fee shall be a lien on the real property described on the bill that includes the availability fee. The availability fee shall be assessed in the same manner as real property taxes are assessed.

(b)

It shall be the burden of the property owner to establish that her/his/its property is not improved property as defined in section 54-26, and therefore not subject to the availability fee imposed under this section. Upon such showing, the assessment for the availability fee will be removed from the tax bill for the next fiscal year and subsequent years. There will be no release or refund of the availability fee for any current or prior fiscal year except for an assessment of the availability fee due to clerical error by the county, which release or refund must be approved by the board or its designee. Failure of the owner to timely notify the county and establish that an unoccupied dwelling or dwelling unit is unfit for human habitation (i.e., before May 1 of the ensuing fiscal year) shall not constitute clerical error by the county. For purposes of this article, the county shall have no obligation or duty to discover on its own that a dwelling or dwelling unit is unoccupied and unfit for human habitation.

(Res. of 5-1-17(1); Res. of 6-5-17(1), §§ 11-13)