Section 1

Amends GS 143B-1040 to include Tropical Storm Fred in the natural disasters for which the Office of Recovery and Resiliency (ORR) is charged with executing recovery and resiliency projects and administering funds provided by the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program (Recovery program). Adds a new subsection providing that the provisions of Subpart D, Part 5 (Division of Emergency Management; Division), Article 13 (Department of Public Safety; DPS) relating to standards and practices of applicant and homeowner eligibility, contractor requirements, rehabilitation assistance, physical condition requirements, and displacement and relocation, are not to be construed as more restrictive than applicable federal or state law.

Section 2

Enacts GS 143B-1042, establishing nine requirements for contracts awarded or assigned by ORR related to detached single-family dwelling funded with finds provided by the Recovery program, including: (1) requiring ORR to develop a priority-based system for awarding or assigning contracts as specified with described qualifications; (2) limiting the number of detached single-family dwellings included in a single bid package to 20, and limiting the award or assignment of contracts to contractors to perform construction activities on no more than 20 dwellings at one time; (3) requiring described cancellation and liquidation clauses in all contracts; and (4) requiring contractors awarded or assigned a contract to begin activities on the property within 45 days after the award and complete activities within 120 days of award or assignment, or the temporary relocation of the applicant, whichever is later. Defines construction activities and property.

Enacts GS 160D-1112.1, requiring local government inspection departments (departments) to give priority to inspections services (including permitting) required under Article 11, Building Code Enforcement, that involving activities on detached single-family dwellings funded in whole or in part with funds from the Recovery program. Allows departments to require contractors to present evidence proving the activities are funded by the Recovery program prior to granting priority. 

Directs ORR to adopt the priority-based system required under new GS 160D-1042(b)(1) within 30 days of the date the act becomes law, and within 30 days of such adoption, report to the specified NCGA commission detailing the system. 

Section 3

Amends Article 14 (Time for Listing and Appraising Property for Taxation) and Article 22 (Listing property for city and town taxation; duty of owner; authority of governing body to obtain lists from county) of GS Chapter 105 by enacting GS 105-286.1 and GS 105-328.1 with identical provisions as follows. Prohibits appraising a permanent residence, which has increased in true value because it was rehabilitated using Recovery program funds administered by ORR or Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Fund administered by the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM), at a value higher than the most recent value appraised prior to the rehabilitation unless one of four acts or circumstances occurs: (1) transfer of the residence; (2) death of the owner; (3) cease of use as a permanent residency by the owner; or (4) passage of five years since the first reappraisal. Specifies limitations of each circumstance. Defines owner, permanent residence, and rehabilitation or rehabilitated. Establishes a process by which an owner can file a complaint alleging appraisal in violation of the statute, from which the assessor has 30 days to confirm or deny the allegations and notify the owner. Requires the assessor to assist the owner in providing or verifying information in the custody of the city or county. Requires reappraisal if the allegations are confirmed. Allows an owner to appeal an accessor's decision that the appraisal was not in error to the county's governing body, with an appeal of the governing body's decision permitted to the Property Tax Commission. 

Makes conforming changes to GS 105-283, GS 105-284, and GS 105-328, relating to appraisals, to reference new GS 105-286.1 and GS 105-328.1 as appropriate. 

Applies for taxes imposed for taxable years beginning on or after July 1, 2023. 

Section 4

Amends GS 143-53.1 to set the competitive bidding benchmark for ORR when awarding or assigning contracts under Subpart D, Part 5, GS Chapter 143B, as amended, at $250,000.

Amends GS 143-131, which requires public construction or purchase contracts of $30,000 or more (but less than the limits of GS 143-129) made by any political subdivision of the State or their officer be made after informal bids have been secured, with all contracts awarded to the lowest responsible, responsive bidder, taking into account specified considerations, and public entities responsible for recordkeeping. Explicitly subjects ORR to these provisions for all contracts for construction or repair work related to disaster recovery involving the expenditure of $250,000 or more of public money, but less than the limits of GS 143-129. Defines construction to include the purchase of manufactured housing units.