Opportunity Zones are the latest effort by the federal government to encourage investment in low-income census tracts. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted at the end of 2017, grants significant tax benefits to investors who reinvest their capital gains … Read more
Discoveries are confusing, thanks to lots of special rules that apply only to these types of tax bills. I explain the basic process here. It’s not just the calculation of discovery bills that can get complex; so too are the … Read more
A 2015 North Carolina law requires that fees collected by the local “inspections department” must stay with that department. A 2018 law requires local finance officers to report to the Local Government Commission the revenues and expenditures “from building inspections.” … Read more
North Carolina law, GS 160A-70 requires city governing boards to elect from among its members a mayor pro tem. What powers does the mayor pro tem have? Does the mayor pro tem vote on all matters even in cities where the … Read more
Attempting to ban short-term rentals (STRs) by shoehorning them into existing single-family residential zoning ordinances may cause significant roadblocks for jurisdictions looking for answers on how to regulate these properties. Relying on preexisting residential zoning ordinances to ban STRs The … Read more
In June the General Assembly enacted Session Law 2018-69, which directs municipalities, counties, and metropolitan sewerage districts to submit ordinance-related information to two legislative committees by December 1, 2018. This blog post examines the law and considers how local government … Read more
January 1 is the key date for property tax exemptions. That’s the date on which the assessor takes a theoretical snapshot of a property’s ownership and use, the two primary criteria for property tax exemption eligibility. If a property doesn’t … Read more
This blog post will bring you up to date on redistricting in North Carolina. It has been a wild decade, but it looks like things have mostly shaken out. Every 10 years, after each federal census, the North Carolina General … Read more
The 2018 legislative session brought about several significant changes to public school funding, including school capital projects funded with lottery proceeds. Section 5.3(e2) of the 2018 Appropriations Act (S.L. 2018-5) authorizes counties (not local school boards) that receive Needs-Based Public … Read more
This past Friday, the NC General Assembly adjourned for several months. According to the adjournment resolution, the plan is for the legislators to return to Raleigh on November 27. Unlike many previous adjournment resolutions (see S.L. 2017-12 for example), this … Read more