“The historical heritage of our State is one of our most valued and important assets.” That’s what the state law says. And state law authorizes municipalities and counties to safeguard that heritage and promote the use and conservation of North … Read more

June 2025: This post has been updated to include guidance on the accounting for sales and use tax reimbursements. Many thanks to Greg Allison, Kendra Boyle, Lee Carter, and Sharon Edmundson for their input on the accounting requirements. North Carolina … Read more

One way that local governments and law enforcement agencies support safe school environments is through the assignment of School Resource Officers (SROs). These uniformed law enforcement officers are stationed in schools through agreements between school leaders and sheriffs or police … Read more

Many of you have had this experience: an employee who fails a drug test by testing positive for marijuana protests that they have never smoked weed or consumed an edible. What they have done, however, is take CBD or another … Read more

In North Carolina, local officials enjoy absolute immunity from liability based on actions within the scope of their legitimate legislative functions. The same is true for federal lawmakers and members of the General Assembly. The North Carolina Court of Appeals … Read more

Updated May 21, 2025 to reflect recent NC Court of Appeals decision in Adams Homes AEC, LLC v. Stanly County, COA24-924 (May 21, 2025). Water and wastewater services play a vital role in helping communities grow and thrive. When these … Read more

Legal sports gambling in North Carolina hit its first anniversary on March 11, 2025.  It’s fair to say that this activity has been popular with Old North State residents. In the first twelve months that North Carolinians were permitted to … Read more

UPDATE June 2025: Some local governments have entered into an amended cash flow loan agreement with the Department of State Treasurer (DST) that changes the loan repayment schedule. While the budgetary treatment remains the same, the accounting treatment differs. Under … Read more

I wrote recently about substantial upcoming changes to North Carolina’s child fatality prevention system. As part of those systemic changes in S.L. 2023-124, the General Assembly is establishing new Citizen Review Panels to evaluate the extent to which the state … Read more

Every year bills are filed with the North Carolina General Assembly to expand the reach of our state’s three residential property tax relief programs, the elderly/disabled homestead exclusion (GS 105-277.1), the circuit breaker exclusion (GS 105-277.1B), and the disabled veteran’s … Read more

It’s almost April. That means springtime, showers, taxes, and baseball. And for NC local governments, it means American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (ARP/CSLFRF) reports. That’s right, the next Project and Expenditure report is almost … Read more

The deadline to obligate American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (ARP/CSLFRF) has passed, and local governments now have until December 31, 2026, to fully expend their allocated funds. While that may sound like ample time, the countdown … Read more

The open meetings law requires all official meetings of public bodies to be open to the public. G.S. 143-318.10(a). However, government bodies can hold closed-door meetings, known as closed sessions, under certain limited circumstances. This post focuses on several of the lesser-used … Read more

Note: Updates regarding ongoing litigation are included at the bottom of this blog post. Overview On January 21, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14173, entitled Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (the “EO”). The EO states that practices … Read more

Author’s Note: This blog post has been edited to reflect changes in local child fatality review team composition enacted by Section 4.1 of Session Law 2025-27, effective July 1, 2025. Tragically, 1,474 North Carolina children under the age of 18 … Read more

Let’s say my friend Cooper is under contract to sell his house to RJ (perhaps because Cooper has a new job in Charlotte while RJ never wants to leave North Carolina 😊).    If the closing occurs on June 30, … Read more

This blog post explains the steps the NC Department of Commerce’s new Division of Community Revitalization will take to determine how to allocate the state’s share of Community Development Disaster Recovery funds (CDBG-DR) to aid Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. Local … Read more

What are tariffs? Tariffs are taxes levied on imported goods and services. The most common form of tariffs is ad valorem (Latin for “to value”), which are levied as a percentage of the value of imported goods. Other forms of … Read more

“Satellite” annexation authority provides an exception to the normally strict rule that only territory abutting a municipal boundary can be annexed. This power comes with some unique requirements, one of which is that if part of the property to be … Read more

On December 11, 2024, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to override the Governor’s veto and enact the Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part III, Session Law 2024-57 (Part III). In addition to addressing recovery topics, the legislation made … Read more