NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1975 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 847

SENATE BILL 916

 

 

AN ACT TO ALLOW COMPENSATION FOR THE TAKING OF WATER AND SEWER FACILITIES BY POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 40 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Section 40-30 reading as follows:

"§ 40-30.  Compensation for taking of water and sewer facilities by political subdivisions. — Upon the filing of a petition or complaint in inverse condemnation by a privately owned public utility certificated by the North Carolina Utilities Commission to provide water or sewer service, or both, alleging that a political subdivision of the State has constructed or installed, or threatens to construct or install, duplicating facilities for providing services similar to those provided by said public utility, or upon the filing of a petition by a political subdivision to condemn property and facilities of such a public utility, then the court shall, upon finding (1) that the facilities of the complainant public utility are of such an age, quality of materials, and size of facilities to be readily integrated into the system of said political subdivision, and (2) that said political subdivision has in effect in the area served by said complainant public utility an ordinance requiring connection of all developed properties to its system, declare the action or threatened action of the political subdivision to be a taking of property for a public use, and shall fix just compensation therefor.

The compensation fixed by a court pursuant to this section shall not exceed the actual original dollar cost of the property of the public utility, less accumulated depreciation using a straight-line method of depreciation. In diminution of said actual original dollar cost, less accumulated depreciation, the court shall consider the following factors in fixing just compensation:

1.         The useful value of the property to the political subdivision, considering its age, quality of materials, and degree of compatibility with the system of the political subdivision;

2.         The amounts of any tap fees, connection fees, or any other payments to defray the cost of construction of the public utility system, if paid by any person other than the public utility or its predecessors in title;

3.         Any inadequacy of consideration paid for, or any gift of, property for which compensation is sought;

4.         The reasonable salvage value of property which the public utility has salvaged or which can reasonably be salvaged by the public utility.

Certified copies of pertinent records of the North Carolina Utilities Commission shall be made available to the court upon request in order to aid the court in determining just compensation pursuant to this section."

Sec. 2.  This act shall become effective on January 1, 1976.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 25th day of June, 1975.