(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this Article applies to any contract, agreement, memorandum of understanding, and any other transaction having the force and effect of a contract (other than agreements made in connection with the issuance of revenue bonds, special obligation bonds issued pursuant to Article 7A of this Chapter, or of general obligation bonds additionally secured by a pledge of revenues) made or entered into by a unit of local government (as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 159-7(b) or, in the case of a special obligation bond, as authorized in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 159-146), relating to the lease, acquisition, or construction of capital assets, which contract does all of the following:

(1) Extends for five or more years from the date of the contract, including periods that may be added to the original term through the exercise of options to renew or extend. For units included on the most recently published Unit Assistance List issued by the Department of State Treasurer, this subdivision applies to transactions that extend for three or more years from the date of the contract, including periods that may be added to the original term through the exercise of options to renew or extend.

(2) Obligates the unit to pay sums of money to another, without regard to whether the payee is a party to the contract.

(3) Obligates the unit over the full term of the contract, including periods that may be added to the original term through the exercise of options to renew or extend:

a. For baseball park districts, to at least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

b. For housing authorities, to at least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or a sum equal to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per housing unit owned and under active management by the housing authority, whichever is less.

c. For units included on the most recently published Unit Assistance List issued by the Department of State Treasurer, to at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

d. For other units, to at least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or a sum equal to one-tenth of one percent (1/10 of 1%) of the assessed value of property subject to taxation by the contracting unit, whichever is less.

(4) Obligates the unit, expressly or by implication, to exercise its power to levy taxes either to make payments falling due under the contract, or to pay any judgment entered against the unit as a result of the unit’s breach of the contract.

Contingent obligation shall be included in calculating the value of the contract. Several contracts that are all related to the same undertaking shall be deemed a single contract for the purposes of this Article. When several contracts are considered as a single contract, the term shall be that of the contract having the longest term, and the sums to fall due shall be the total of all sums to fall due under all single contracts in the group. No contract agreement shall be divided for the purpose of, or that results in, evading the requirements of this Article.

(b) This Article shall not apply to:

(1) Contracts between a unit of local government and the State of North Carolina or the United States of America (or any agency of either) entered into as a condition to the making of grants or loans to the unit of local government.

(2) Contracts for the purchase, lease, or lease with option to purchase of voting machines.

(3) Repealed by Session Laws 2020-3, s. 4.30(g), effective retroactively to July 1, 2019.

(4) Contracts for the purchase, lease, or lease with option to purchase of motor vehicles. This exemption shall not apply to units included on the most recently published Unit Assistance List issued by the Department of State Treasurer where the contract amount equals or exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). (1971, c. 780, s. 1; 1973, c. 494, s. 31; 1989, c. 756, s. 6; 1991, c. 11, s. 4; 1997-380, s. 4; 1998-222, s. 1; 2001-206, s. 2; 2001-414, s. 52; 2020-3, s. 4.30(g); 2022-53, s. 6.)