AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 30 AND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

153rd General Assembly (2025-2026) Introduced by Sean Lynn and 2 co-sponsors

HB 238 authorizes a one-time $300,000 General Fund reimbursement to Buncombe County via DPI for the required Buncombe-Asheville school consolidation study.

Not Worked in Committee

Summary — HB 238: Reimburse Buncombe County for Cost of Study

Status and key dates
- Bill number: HB 238 (2025 session).
- Primary subject: Appropriations for a required school-district consolidation study (Buncombe County / City of Asheville).
- Reported text (as introduced in the NC General Assembly): appropriates funds and sets an effective date of July 1, 2025.
- Sponsor: Representative Prather (primary sponsors listed in House file).
- Procedural status (as provided): Passed 1st Reading.

Purpose / intent
- To reimburse Buncombe County for the cost of conducting the school district consolidation study that state law (S.L. 2023‑128, Section 4(e)) required — specifically the study of merging the Buncombe County School Administrative Unit and the City of Asheville School Administrative Unit.

Main provisions
- Appropriation: Directs a one-time (nonrecurring) appropriation of $300,000 from the State General Fund to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for the 2025–2026 fiscal year.
- Allocation: DPI is to allocate the full $300,000 to Buncombe County as reimbursement for the consolidation study described above.
- Effective date: The act becomes effective July 1, 2025.

Who is affected
- Buncombe County: Primary recipient — will receive reimbursement to cover study costs it incurred to comply with S.L. 2023‑128’s consolidation-study requirement.
- City of Asheville / Buncombe County school administrative units: Indirectly affected because the appropriation reimburses the specific study regarding possible merger of those two units.
- Department of Public Instruction: Administrative role as pass-through for the appropriation.
- State budget / taxpayers: $300,000 nonrecurring reduction to the General Fund balance relative to no appropriation.

Fiscal impact and implementation notes
- Fiscal impact: $300,000 one-time (nonrecurring) state expenditure in FY 2025–26. The bill does not appropriate recurring funds and contains no other programmatic mandates.
- Implementation: DPI must receive the appropriation and disburse the funds to Buncombe County. The reimbursement is intended specifically for the study required under S.L. 2023‑128, §4(e).
- Policy context: The bill responds to a statutory obligation imposed earlier (S.L. 2023‑128) by reimbursing the local government for the cost of complying with that required study.

Procedural / timeline aspects to note
- If enacted as drafted, funds are for the 2025–2026 fiscal year and the law would take effect July 1, 2025.
- Being a single‑item appropriation, the measure’s fiscal effects are limited to the one‑time payment; it does not authorize further state support for consolidation implementation.

(For further detail: text cites S.L. 2023‑128, subsection (e) of Section 4 as the statutory source of the required study; the appropriation is routed through DPI for allocation to Buncombe County.)