The School of Government now has free online resources to help you meet the reporting and compliance requirements that come with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding.  If your local government has received ARRA funding, I strongly encourage you … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: For more recent information on this topic, click here. Last week, I summarized the new electronic notice and public comment requirements on the imposition of, or increase in, certain fees and charges assessed by local governments, and … Read more

State law has always required a public hearing prior to the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a development regulation. The statutes are clear about how the hearing notice is to be provided and when it must be made. Notice of … Read more

An attorney called recently and asked about G.S. 14-229.  That section prohibits a person from entering upon the duties of a public office without taking and subscribing the oath of office and then filing the oath “in the proper office.”  … Read more

A few of my posts have discussed the limited bases upon which city and county board members may be excused from voting, and the lack of clarity in the statutes about how this should be done. I’ve mostly focused on … Read more

Following up on my post last week about the procedures available for selling surplus property, I will now address the second question raised by the original post: When can you sell surplus property to local government employees or officers?

UPDATE August 2013: For more recent information on this topic, click here. Effective September 1, 2009, the General Assembly enacted new electronic notice and public comment requirements with respect to the imposition of, or increase in, certain fees and charges … Read more

Last week I discussed a possible advantage of considering city or county attorneys as public officers – the governing board’s ability to hold a closed session to consider an attorney’s qualifications, character, performance, and so on.  This week I want … Read more

North Carolina auto dealers don’t pay property taxes on the thousands of new and used cars sitting in their lots awaiting buyers.  Walmart doesn’t pay property taxes on the massive amount of stuff for sale at its nearly 100 big-box stores sprinkled across … Read more

State law creates an affirmative duty for local governing board members to vote on matters that come before the board. Last week’s post discussed provisions that allow members to be excused from voting for specific reasons. In all other cases, … Read more