§143B-289.44. North Carolina Aquariums; fees; fund

(a)        Fees. - The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources may adopt a schedule of fees for the aquariums and piers operated by the North Carolina Aquariums, including:

(1)        Gate admission fees.

(2)        Facility rental fees.

(3)        Educational programs.

(b)        Fund. - The North Carolina Aquariums Fund is hereby created as a special and nonreverting fund. The North Carolina Aquariums Fund shall be used for repair, renovation, expansion, maintenance, educational exhibit construction, and operational expenses at existing aquariums, to pay the debt service and lease payments related to the financing of expansions of aquariums, and to match private funds that are raised for these purposes.

(c)        Disposition of Fees. - All entrance fee receipts shall be credited to the North Carolina Aquariums Fund. Receipts so credited that are necessary to support the personnel and operational expenses of the aquariums shall be transferred to the aquariums' General Fund operating budget on a monthly basis.

(d)        The Division of North Carolina Aquariums shall submit to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Natural and Economic Resources, and the Fiscal Research Division by September 30 of each year a report on the North Carolina Aquariums Fund that shall include the source and amounts of all funds credited to the Fund and the purpose and amount of all expenditures from the Fund during the prior fiscal year.

(1997-286, s. 5; 1997-400, s. 6.3(b); 1997-443, s. 11A.119(b); 1999-49, s. 2; 2002-159, s. 46; 2005-276, s. 12.10; 2012-142, s. 12.5(a); 2013-413, s. 42(a); 2014-100, s. 14.2C; 2014-115, s. 17.)