A Tourism Development Authority (TDA) is a local government entity that is typically created by a county or municipality to administer and expend local occupancy tax proceeds. Generally a TDA is a separate legal entity from the county or municipality … Read more

The city council has scheduled a meeting to discuss four things related to employee salaries: 1) Review of a pay study prepared by a consultant that describes current employee salaries compared with market rates; 2) Whether to authorize an across-the-board … Read more

Several federal and state laws address service animals in government buildings and public accommodations. I included a brief chapter on the topic in my 2008 animal control law book. Since then, there have been some important revisions to the regulations implementing … Read more

It is common practice for North Carolina local government utilities to require an applicant for utility service to furnish government-issued photo identification. Officials cite the need to protect the integrity of utility operations as justification for the requirement, arguing that … Read more

The in rem property tax foreclosure process under G.S. 105-375 has recently come under criticism from some title insurance companies and attorneys. They raise two related arguments against using in rem.  First, they argue that courts are quick to overturn … Read more

Few things cause more headaches for property tax offices than heir property.  When a taxpayer dies owning real property, listing, exemption eligibility, billing, and enforced collection questions suddenly become very difficult to resolve. The traditional approach to resolving these questions … Read more

If a person is considering undertaking a particular land use, it is important that they know whether or not that would be allowed by the zoning ordinance. It is usually a simple proposition to determine whether or not the use … Read more

The Upsette City Council adopted a controversial ordinance limiting the number of dogs and cats per residence.  Three of the council’s five members lost their seats at the next election to opponents who campaigned on pledges to repeal the pet … Read more

A municipality currently is authorized under general law to levy up to a $5.00 licensing tax on any motor vehicle resident in the municipality (motor vehicle license tax). See G.S. 20-97(b). A municipality’s governing board may levy the tax in … Read more

Quick poll question:  does your local government annually write off all property taxes that are more than 10 years old? (I bet everyone reading this post just nodded yes.)  Okay, second poll question: where in the Machinery Act are local … Read more