Per Diem Payments to Members of the Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Advisory Board

Subject:

Per Diem Payments to Members of the Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Advisory Board

Requested By:

Lester Teal Controller

Question:

Does N.C.G.S. 138-5(b) amend G.S. 20-305.4(d) to increase the per diem paid to members of the Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Advisory Board from $7.00 per day of service to $15.00 per day of service?

Conclusion:

Yes.

The Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Advisory Board was created by the 1973 General Assembly, and the Act specifically provided:

"Members of the Board shall meet at the call of the Commissioner and shall receive as compensation for their services seven dollars ($7.00) for each day actually engaged in the exercise of the duties of the Board and such travel expenses and subsistence allowances as are generally allowed other State commissions and boards."

Currently, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is compensating the members of the Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Advisory Board at the statutory rate of seven dollars ($7.00) per day of service. These payments are made from funds appropriated to the Division of Motor Vehicles. Members of all other Department of Transportation boards, commissions, committees, and councils entitled to a per diem are, however, compensated at the rate of fifteen dollars ($15.00) per day of service as provided for in G.S. 138-5(a)(1).

N.C.G.S. 138-5, which establishes compensation and allowances for members of State boards, commissions, committees and councils, was rewritten by the enactment of Chapter 1397 of the 1973 Session Laws, effective July 1, 1974. Among the provisions of this Act was an increase in per diem payments to fifteen dollars ($15.00) for each day of service (G.S. 138-5(a)(1)), and the following statement was included as Subsection 5(b):

"The schedules of per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances established in this section shall apply to members of all State boards, commissions, committees and councils which operate from funds deposited with the State Treasurer, excluding those boards, commissions, committees and councils the members of which are now serving without compensation and excluding occupational licensing boards as defined in G.S. 93B-1; and all special statutory provisions relating to per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances are hereby amended to conform to this section."

The Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Advisory Board was in existence at the time Chapter 1397 was enacted by the 1973 General Assembly. The members of this Advisory Board were serving with compensation, and the Advisory Board is not an occupational licensing board as defined in G.S. 93B-1.

It appears clear from the language of G.S. 138-5(b) that the General Assembly intended that members of all State boards, commissions, committees and councils operating from funds deposited with the State Treasurer would from that time forward receive a per diem payment of fifteen dollars ($15.00) per day for each day of service. It is, therefore, this office’s conclusion that the members of the Motor Vehicle Dealers’ Advisory Board should be paid a per diem of fifteen dollars ($15.00) per day of service.

Lacy H. Thornburg Attorney General

Thomas H. Davis, Jr. Assistant Attorney General