§ 77‑96.  Funding.
(a)	The Commission shall annually adopt a budget that shall include the Commission's estimated expenses. Funding for the Commission shall be shared and apportioned between the State of North Carolina and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The appropriation of public funds to the Commission shall be provided through each state's regular process for appropriating public funds. The North Carolina councils of governments and commissions named in G.S. 77‑103(b)(5) shall bear a proportion of North Carolina's share of the expenses, which may be in the form of in‑kind contributions.
(b)	The Commission shall designate a fiscal agent.
(c)	The accounts and records of the Commission showing the receipt and disbursement of funds from whatever source derived shall be in the form that the North Carolina Auditor and the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts prescribe, provided that the accounts shall correspond as nearly as possible to the accounts and records for such matters maintained by similar enterprises. The accounts and records of the Commission shall be subject to an annual audit by the North Carolina Auditor and the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts or their legal representatives, and the costs of the audit services shall be borne by the Commission. The results of the audits shall be delivered as part of the annual report required in G.S. 77‑98 by October 1 of each year to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources, the Fiscal Research Division of the General Assembly of North Carolina, and as provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia.  (2002‑177, s. 1; 2017‑57, s. 14.1(b); 2020‑74, s. 14(a).)