(a) Whenever the board of commissioners of each county constituting a regional social services department determines that the department is not operating in the best interests of the respective counties, they may direct that the regional social services department be dissolved.

(b) Whenever a board of commissioners of a county which is a member of a regional social services department determines that the department is not operating in the best interests of that county, it may withdraw from the regional social services department.

(c) Dissolution of a regional social services department or withdrawal from the regional social services department by a county shall be effective only at the end of the fiscal year in which the action of dissolution or withdrawal transpired.

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of the section, no regional social services department shall be dissolved without prior written notification to the Department.

(e) Any budgetary surplus available to a regional social services department at the time of its dissolution shall be distributed to those counties comprising the region on the same pro rata basis that the counties appropriated and contributed funds to the regional social services department budget during the current fiscal year. Distribution to the counties shall be determined on the basis of an audit of the financial record of the regional social services department. The regional board of social services shall select a certified public accountant or an accountant who is subsequently certified by the Local Government Commission to conduct the audit. The audit shall be performed in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 159-34 The same method of distribution of funds described above shall apply when one or more counties of a regional social services department withdraw from a region. (2017-41, s. 4.1.)