Earlier this week a city official asked this interesting question, “Can we refuse to allow residents who have not paid their property taxes to use city recreational facilities?”  The city that raised the question operates a recreation center with a swimming pool and … Read more

The story goes something like this:  Jones, who is something of an eccentric guy anyway, lives in a relatively good neighborhood. But his house has never really fit into the area. His house looks like a work in progress with … Read more

When I teach about animal control law in North Carolina, I often describe the work as multifaceted. The individuals involved wear various hats – they are animal control officers, animal cruelty investigators, communicable disease investigators, public safety officials, animal welfare … Read more

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires all employers to pay employees time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 that employees work in a given week, unless an employee satisfies the FLSA’s salary basis test and … Read more

Hershel Greene runs a small animal hospital out on the edge of town. When the business first opened thirty years ago, he had a large billboard advertising the business installed out by the road.  Herschel had been heavily involved with … Read more

Which of the following statements is true? A local government can reject a construction bid if the bidder does not list enough HUB subcontractors to meet the local government’s HUB participation goals. If a bidder forgets to identify on his … Read more

Smoking has been prohibited in most North Carolina restaurants and bars for three years now, since January 2010. The legislation that imposed the smoking ban (S.L. 2009-27) included an exemption for non-profit private clubs—an exemption that began provoking questions before … Read more

Which of these appraisal errors justifies a property tax refund? 1.  Taxpayer is taxed for property that did not have a taxable situs in the jurisdiction. 2.  Taxpayer is taxed for a house that burned the prior December. 3.  Taxpayer … Read more

In a previous post, I detailed how the major credit card companies (Visa and MasterCard) effectively prohibited a local government or public authority from assessing a surcharge on customers who remitted payment of fees, assessments, and sometimes even taxes, by … Read more

An incident involving the police department has riled up the citizens. The manager and the police chief are coming under heavy criticism. Several people have signed up to speak at the regular public comment period at the next council meeting … Read more