The city manager of Tooltime, North Carolina, picks up the phone and calls Tim Taylor, the city’s minimum housing public officer and lead housing inspector. “Tim, I understand why you suspended all periodic inspections in Tooltime that did not comply … Read more
My current preoccupation (a temporary one, I hope) is certificates of occupancy. I don’t mean those permissions necessary to occupy public property in the Raleigh, New York, or Washington demonstrations that have been in the news. No, I mean those … Read more
The Village of Paved Paradise is located on the North Carolina coast. It is a small municipality with a vibrant downtown. Because of its size and location, parking in the downtown area is scarce. There is a strict two-hour limit … Read more
Just over a month remains before interest will begin accruing on unpaid property taxes levied for the 2011-12 fiscal year. On January 6, 2012, these taxes will become delinquent and begin accruing interest at the rate of 2% for January … Read more
Which of the following revenues belong to a county’s local school administrative unit(s)? 1. A city imposes a $50 civil penalty on a citizen for violating the city’s noise ordinance. (The ordinance specifies that each violation is subject to a … Read more
North Carolina’s open meetings law creates a broad public right of access to meetings of public bodies by requiring notice of most kinds of meetings, and allowing anyone to attend them. Do those who attend have a guaranteed right to … Read more
“Don’t make retroactive changes to property tax values.” As general rules go, that’s a pretty good one for county assessors to follow. Absent unusual circumstances, any changes to property tax values should apply to the current tax year and not … Read more
Texting, tweeting, emailing, blogging, posting: members of public boards are doing this during meetings using their private or publicly-issued electronic devices, and communicating with each other, with individuals or groups attending the meeting, and with individuals and groups anywhere in … Read more
In even-numbered years, it’s pretty easy to tell when elections will happen. In May of 2012, for instance, there will be primary elections for congressional seats and North Carolina legislative seats and governor and attorney general and judges and county … Read more