§ 136-44.27. North Carolina Elderly and Disabled Transportation Assistance Program.
§136‑44.27. North Carolina Elderly and Disabled Transportation AssistanceProgram.
(a) There isestablished the Elderly and Disabled Transportation Assistance Program thatshall provide State financed elderly and disabled transportation services forcounties within the State. The Department of Transportation is designated asthe agency of the State responsible for administering State funds appropriatedto purchase elderly and disabled transportation services for counties withinthe State. The Department shall develop appropriate procedures regarding thedistribution and use of these funds and shall adopt rules to implement theseprocedures. No funds appropriated pursuant to this act may be used to coverState administration costs.
(b) For the purposes ofthis section, an elderly person is defined as one who has reached the age of 60or more years, and a disabled person is defined as one who has a physical ormental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,an individual who has a record of such impairment, or an individual who isregarded as having such an impairment. Certification of eligibility shall bethe responsibility of the county.
(c) All fundsdistributed by the Department under this section are intended to purchaseadditional transportation services, not to replace funds now being used bylocal governments for that purpose. These funds are not to be used towards thepurchase of transportation vehicles or equipment. To this end, only thosecounties maintaining elderly and disabled transportation services at a levelconsistent with those in place on January 1, 1987, shall be eligible foradditional transportation assistance funds.
(d) The PublicTransportation Division of the Department of Transportation shall distributethese funds to the counties according to the following formula: fifty percent(50%) divided equally among all counties; twenty‑two and one‑halfpercent (22 1/2%) based upon the number of elderly residents per county as apercentage of the State's elderly population; twenty‑two and one‑halfpercent (22 1/2%) based upon the number of disabled residents per county as apercentage of the State's disabled population; and, the remaining five percent(5%) based upon a population density factor that recognizes the highertransportation costs in sparsely populated counties.
(e) Funds distributedby the Department under this section shall be used by counties in a mannerconsistent with transportation development plans which have been approved bythe Department and the Board of County Commissioners. To receive fundsapportioned for a given fiscal year, a county shall have an approvedtransportation development plan. Funds that are not obligated in a givenfiscal year due to the lack of such a plan will be distributed to the eligiblecounties based upon the distribution formula prescribed by subsection (d) ofthis section. (1987 (Reg. Sess., 1988), c. 1095, ss. 1(a), 1(b), c.1101, s. 8.2; 1989, c. 752, s. 105(b); 1993, c. 321, s. 147.)