Compared with many other states, North Carolina has created a very limited role for mayors. Our state laws leave many decisions about the management and operation of municipalities to the governing board, or, in jurisdictions operating in a council-manager form … Read more

The city council is holding a public hearing on a petition to rezone a parcel of land that fronts a highway leading into town. The owner has asked that the zoning be changed from a low-density residential district to a … Read more

I’ve received three phone calls in recent months from cities wondering about their service responsibilities to properties that are bisected by the city’s boundary.  My answer is that it depends on where the house – or other building, for nonresidential … Read more

There is an old adage among attorneys that “bad facts make bad law.” Along those lines, there may be a tendency to dismiss a recent e-discovery opinion as a case where “bizarre facts make bad e-discovery sanctions.” However, local government … Read more

UPDATE September 2013:  In December 2012 the North Carolina Supreme Court invalidated the adequate-public-facilities program for public schools in Cabarrus County in the case of Lanvale Properties, LLC v. County of Cabarrus, ___ N.C. ___, 731 S.E.2d 800 (2012).  The county … Read more

Imagine that you own a home, but not the land on which it sits. You’re a tenant on the land, subject to a 99-year ground lease. As a condition of the ground lease, you are permitted to sell your home … Read more

Changes in federal law rarely affect local property taxes.  An exception occurred on Veteran’s Day when President Obama signed Public Law 111-97, the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act.   This law allows spouses of active-duty military members to retain residency in … Read more

Some weeks ago I posted a blog about a mayor’s failure to sign minutes or an ordinance, noting that even when statutes clearly require such a signature (which is not the case in North Carolina), the courts have refused to … Read more

Elected officials and others are usually surprised to learn that there is no general law that prohibits board members from disclosing information obtained in a closed session. Disclosure of specific types of information is prohibited by separate statutes that make … Read more

A recurrent question is whether one governing board member may give his or her proxy to another, when the first member cannot attend a meeting, allowing the proxy holder to vote on behalf of the proxy giver.  (The proxy might … Read more