The Set-off Debt Collection Act is one of the General Statute’s hidden gems for local governments.   For decades the process commonly called “debt set-off” has allowed local governments, water and sewer authorities, and similar public agencies to attach state income tax returns to … Read more

In this blog post, I summarized the changes in the personnel privacy laws contained in the ethics bill,  S.L. 2010-169. This post summarizes two more changes included in that legislation. One establishes both an optional and a mandatory mediation procedure for … Read more

UPDATE November 2013: Congress did not enact the bill to create the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, discussed in this post.  For the time being there does not appear to be any substantial federal impetus that would force units of … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: In 2013 the General Assembly repealed the statutory allocations of lottery proceeds and corporate income tax proceeds to the Public School Building Capital Fund. The effectively means that funding for the PSBCF will be subject to yearly … Read more

In most legislative sessions the alcoholic beverage control laws do not get much attention. Yes, there are the usual local acts disguised as statewide bills so they can expand ABC permits to more areas ― like the act allowing permits … Read more

Have you heard of U.S. Communities?  What about National IPA?  Or HGAC?  WSCA?  TCPN?  NJPA? This alphabet soup of organizations (and others like them) can provide North Carolina local governments with purchasing flexibility and efficiency through an exception to the … Read more

Following the 2010 session of the North Carolina General Assembly, local governments will see an essentially unchanged statutory landscape for community and economic development. Some of the highlights are discussed below.

Which of these three scenarios are violations of both the N.C. Rules of Professional Conduct and constitutional due process requirements? 1.  Attorneys Smith and Williams are both partners in ABC Firm, which has over 50 attorneys.  Smith is retained by … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: A summary of the Attorney General’s opinion about these legislative changes can be found here. The final hours of the 2010 legislative session produced agreement on changes to the personnel privacy statutes for most public agencies. Prompted … Read more

Fred is an accounts payable clerk for a North Carolina city.  He learns that some of his fellow employees, including his supervisor, are cheating the city and the taxpayers.  Fred brings this matter to the attention of the city manager.  … Read more