A county ambulance crew member calls Fiona, the county finance officer, at 9pm on Sunday night. The crew just responded to their third call of the night and he needs to refuel the ambulance. Fiona grabs a copy of the county’s budget … Read more

Special assessments are charges levied against property to pay for public infrastructure projects (and in some limited cases private infrastructure projects) that benefit that property. They represent a form of targeted revenue generation for capital outlay. The General Assembly has … Read more

For most units July 1 (or the date that the annual budget ordinance is adopted) marks the end of the formal budgeting season. Each year, however, at least a few counties and local school boards face a protracted budgeting process. … Read more

Each local government and public authority is required to adopt an annual budget ordinance that recognizes estimated revenues, authorizes expenditures, and levies tax(es) for the forthcoming fiscal year. The Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act (LGBFCA), G.S. Ch. 159, … Read more

In Executive Medical Transportation, Inc. v Jones County Department of Social Services, 735 S.E.2d 352 (NC Ct. App. 2012), disc. rev. den’d, 737 S.E.2d 378 (N.C. 2013), the North Carolina Court of Appeals held that an oral agreement between a … Read more

A city manager sends and receives the following text messages from a city resident on the manager’s personal smartphone: Citizen: u and wife want to meet us for dinner at 6 2moro? Manager: same place as last Fri? scallops were delish … Read more

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “synthetic,” among other things, as “devised, arranged, or fabricated for special situations to imitate or replace usual realities.” As the definition suggests, a “synthetic project development financing” (more commonly referred to as a “synthetic tax increment … 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

UPDATE AUGUST 2013: The General Assembly extended the authority for the Newer Special Assessment Method. It was set to expire on July 1, 2013. It is now set to expire on July 1, 2015. The legislature also made a few … Read more

UPDATE: Spring 2018. This blog has been updated to reflect 2017 legislative changes to G.S. 159-32. It is summer camp registration time at Fun City’s parks and recreation department. Department staff members are processing hundreds of registrations each day. That … Read more