North Carolina is a non-home rule state, which means that its local government entities are created by, and derive all their authority from, the General Assembly. The General Assembly has created a relatively flat local government structure. Almost all governmental … Read more

The need to remove an elected member of a local governing board—the city council, the board of county commissioners, or the board of education—may arise when it is discovered that the board member is for some reason disqualified from holding … Read more

North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law requires all official meetings of public bodies to be open to the public (unless the public body has specific statutory authority to meet in closed session). Think about whether the groups described in the following … Read more

A serious measles outbreak is underway in the United States. The outbreak began in late December in California and has since spread to other states. As of this morning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 84 confirmed … Read more

UPDATE:  S.L. 2015-262 now excludes  from local property taxes all property sited on land held in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, effective for the 2016 tax year and beyond. Gambling is a big business in North Carolina, and … Read more

It’s that time of year again. The newly-elected legislators are settling into their offices, committee chairs are being appointed and committees are being assigned, lobbyists are bustling about Jones Street, and policy priorities are beginning to take shape or emerge. … Read more

The Mayor of Transparent City has called a special meeting to allow the city council to designate an interim manager following the former manager’s unexpected departure. In accordance with the open meetings law, the clerk posts a notice stating the … Read more

I’ve blogged recently about the importance of record ownership as of January 1 and January 6 for property tax listing and collection.  Today I continue this New Year’s theme and discuss the property tax liens on real property that arise … Read more

A new sheriff has been elected.  What will his salary be?  Must he be paid what the old sheriff was being paid, or can he be paid less? Here is one way to read the statutes:  the new sheriff must … Read more

The City of Prescott, Arizona, and its mayor, learned a harsh lesson about the failure to preserve emails and other electronic records during (and in anticipation of) litigation. The lesson has cost the city well over $100,000 in legal fees … Read more

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled that a lawsuit seeking access to public records should be dismissed if it fails to name a proper custodian (as defined in state law) as the defendant in the complaint. The case … Read more

Many children and more than a few adults are counting the days and hours until Santa arrives next week.  But taxpayers who’ve yet to pay their 2014 property tax bills should be counting the days and hours until January 6, 2015, the … Read more

Almost ten years ago, in the town of Bushwood, North Carolina, the “generous” owner of the historic textile mill building just off Main Street donated the property to the town (it was difficult to maintain and the owner didn’t want … Read more

Two recent lawsuits have drawn attention as the first to be subject to a new state law treating some constitutional challenges differently from other lawsuits. The first case was brought by the town of Boone, seeking to invalidate a legislative … Read more

Decades ago, a landowner recorded a plat to divide his tract of land into lots and streets. The lots were sold and developed with houses. Most of the streets were constructed and opened as public streets. But there is an … Read more

New Year’s Day is best known for hangovers and college football bowl games. But among North Carolina property tax professionals, January 1 means even more than the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (yes, that’s an actual game.) January 1 is listing … Read more

Consider three scenarios involving polling an elected governing board: 1. The city manager has determined that it is time for new leadership in the HR department. She contacts each of the council members to find out if they approve firing … Read more

The doctrine of governmental immunity shields cities and counties from financial liability for tort claims arising from the performance of governmental functions. (A “tort” is wrongful conduct, such as negligence or assault, for which a victim may be able to … Read more

As I detailed in a previous post, among the funding options available to local units for capital projects are special assessments. Special assessments are charges levied on a subset of real properties located within a county or municipality to fund … Read more

Elections are over, TV ads are back to normal, and mail boxes are no longer full of campaign flyers. Ballots have been counted, results certified, and oaths of office taken. Among the other duties and obligations required of newly elected … Read more