Local governments obtain all sorts of information about citizens. Whether it’s for utility billing, payment of taxes, issuing permits, participation in local programs and volunteer activities, or as a result of regulatory or law enforcement activities, our personal information makes … Read more

There was a lot of buzz around sales tax reform during the past legislative session. Several different proposals were introduced, ranging from changing the allocation methods of existing local sales taxes to converting local sales taxes to state taxes. Many … Read more

On October 20, 2015, the Governor signed Session Law (S.L.) 2015-277, placing into effect several “clarifications” to the primary economic development statute used by local governments, G.S. Chapter 158, Article 1, “The Local Development Act of 1925.” The modifications fall … Read more

It is an understatement to say that this year’s session of the General Assembly produced legislation of interest to local governments.  Some of that legislation has been discussed by my colleagues elsewhere on Coates’ Canons.  (See, for example, here, here, … Read more

After posts on the new builders’ inventory exclusion (here and here) and on new rules for the waiver of interest on old motor vehicle taxes, one final new property tax law deserves its own blog post.  S.L. 2015-266 creates new … Read more

In the state budget bill, S.L. 2015-241, the legislature made a few changes to municipal service district (MSD) authority. An MSD is a defined area within a municipality in which the unit’s governing board levies an additional property tax in … Read more

[Update: The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed this decision in Asheville v. State. Read about the Supreme Court decision in a blog post here.] In 2013 the North Carolina General Assembly enacted a law (S.L. 2013-50) that requires the city of … Read more

…exclusion for improvements to residential and commercial real property (S.L. 2015-223). I’ve already blogged and published a bulletin about the law, now nicknamed the “builders’ inventory exclusion.” After hearing many…

  In the waning days of the 2015 legislative session, the General Assembly enacted legislation that once again changes the E-Verify contracting prohibition for state and local government contracts. In some respects HB318 (Protect North Carolina Workers Act) limits the … Read more

The governing boards of several government-owned or operated water and sewer utilities currently have the authority to mandate connection of certain properties to their water systems. The authority extends to municipalities, counties, sanitary districts, and water and sewer authorities (hereinafter … Read more