(a) Whenever the board of commissioners of each county constituting a district health department determines that the district health department is not operating in the best health interests of the respective counties, they may direct that the district health department be dissolved. In addition, whenever a board of commissioners of a county which is a member of a district health department determines that the district health department is not operating in the best health interests of that county, it may withdraw from the district health department. Dissolution of a district health department or withdrawal from the district health department by a county shall be effective only at the end of the fiscal year in which the action of dissolution or withdrawal transpired.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), no district health department shall be dissolved without prior written notification to the Department.

(c) Any budgetary surplus available to a district health department at the time of its dissolution shall be distributed to those counties comprising the district on the same pro rata basis that the counties appropriated and contributed funds to the district health 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 district health department. The district board of health 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 district health department withdraw from a district.

(d) Upon dissolution or withdrawal, all rules adopted by a district board of health shall continue in effect until amended or repealed by the new board or boards of health. (1971, c. 858; 1975, c. 396, s. 2; c. 403; 1983, c. 891, s. 2.)