146-25.1. Proposals to be secured for leases.
(a) If pursuant to G.S. 146-25, the Department of Administration determines that it is in the best interest of the State to lease or rent land and the rental is estimated to exceed forty thousand dollars ($40,000) per year or the term will exceed three years, the Department shall require the State agency desiring to rent land to prepare and submit for its approval a set of specifications for its needs. Upon approval of specifications, the Department shall prepare a public advertisement. The State agency shall place such advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for proposals from prospective lessors of said land and shall make such other distribution thereof as the Department directs. The advertisement shall be run for at least five consecutive days, and shall provide that proposals shall be received for at least seven days from the date of the last advertisement in the State Property Office of the Department. The provisions of this section do not apply to property owned by governmental agencies and leased to other governmental agencies.
(b) The Department may negotiate with the prospective lessors for leasing of the needed land, taking into account not only the rental offered, but the type of land, the location, its suitability for the purposes, services offered by the lessor, and all other relevant factors. In the event either no proposal or no acceptable proposal is received after advertising in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, the Department may negotiate in the open market for leasing of the needed land.
(c) The Department of Administration shall present the proposed transaction to the Council of State for its consideration as provided by this Article. In the event the lowest rental proposed is not presented to the Council of State, that body may require a statement of justification, and may examine all proposals.