The recent federal tax bill signed by the president last week caps the deductions for state and local taxes at $10,000 beginning with the 2018 tax year. This major change is prompting many North Carolina taxpayers to prepay their 2018 local … Read more

You’ve requested copies of city documents that you believe to be public records. The city has refused to provide them, saying that they are confidential. You file a lawsuit under G.S. 132-9 to obtain access to the records. You are … Read more

[The primary author of this post is Christine Wunsche, the Director of the School of Government’s Legislative Reporting Service.] When teaching or writing about the schedule of the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA), we used to explain that a typical … Read more

Recent high-profile examples of alleged misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds, and other fraudulent activity, by local government officials across the state should prompt all local governments to examine their internal control systems. Internal controls are processes designed to safeguard … Read more

Federal tax reform is likely to be enacted before the end of the year. While the final form of the bill has not been determined, it is nearly certain that federal historic preservation tax credits—an important financing mechanism for preservation … Read more

North Carolina annexation law allows non-contiguous, “satellite” annexation by petition, subject to several requirements regarding the size and location of the property to be annexed. Once annexed, these areas are, for almost all purposes, considered to be part of the … Read more

Suffering from insomnia? I recommend keeping a copy of our newly released 2018 Property Tax Calendar on your nightstand.  I’ll admit the calendar is soporific (hey, you try making dates and deadlines read like a Grisham thriller!), but it does … Read more