House committee substitute to the 1st edition makes the following changes.

Amends the act's titles.

Removes Section 1, Section 2, and Section 3 from the previous edition, which concerned the farmer’s assistance grant program and deferred agricultural taxes.

Renumbers the previous Section 4 as Section 1, and the previous Section 5 as Section 2, and makes other conforming changes.

Changes the text of proposed GS 160A-58.2, subsection (c), to require that the city council direct their planning department to consult with the county planning department with jurisdiction over the area to be annexed before a public hearing under the statute. Replaces “is willing” with “agrees” in the proposed text of subsection (d) for a city agreeing to pay the cost to come into compliance with school capacity in order to proceed with an annexation ordinance when the board of county commissioners does not approve the annexation.

Makes the act effective and applicable to all petitions for annexation on or after July 1, 2025.