Last week the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services entered into a settlement agreement with the federal government (see press release here). Pursuant to the agreement, the state is committed to implementing fairly significant changes related to housing and … Read more

Property tax bills for the 2012-2013 fiscal year are arriving in mail boxes across North Carolina. Thankfully most taxpayers will pay up without further encouragement. But plenty will not, and it’s a long four months until these bills become delinquent … Read more

On August 21, 2012, a unanimous panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals held that the State may not deny any eligible at-risk four year old admission to its Pre-Kindergarten (formerly More at Four) program. On its face, this … Read more

UPDATE: I wrote a more detailed manuscript about this issue for the February 2013 county attorneys’ winter conference. It is available here. Later that same month, a NC Attorney General advisory letter addressed this issue and reached conclusions similar to … Read more

The heart of zoning ordinances are rules on land uses – rules on what uses can go where, standards on building setbacks, the size of structures, required parking, size of signs, and so forth. Sometimes, however, a question is raised … Read more

UPDATE September 2013: For more recent information on this topic, click here. There was a lot of activity this past legislative session around the issue of local human services organization and governance.  In the final weeks of the session, the … Read more

Which of the following proposed transactions requires that the unit first seek approval from the State’s Local Government Commission? 1. The Town of Blowing Rocks borrows $1 million from a local credit union to make repairs to several of its … Read more

North Carolina governmental employers regularly have this question when they are hiring:  do we have to advertise this position? Maybe they already have in mind someone for the job, perhaps someone already working within the organization. Must they go through … Read more

[UPDATE: the final version of the NC ethics opinion discussed in this post can be found here: 2012 FEO 5.] Wally Whiner is in trouble once again.  Wally, an employee in Blue Devil City’s finance department, has been placed on … Read more

Sheriff Andy Taylor holds a fundraiser to raise money for, and promote awareness of, his office’s drug abuse resistance education (D.A.R.E.) program. The office raises approximately $5,000 in cash and checks from the fundraiser (selling Aunt Bee’s famous pies) and … Read more

North Carolina’s open meetings and public records laws contain the core transparency requirements for local governments. They’re so often considered together that they can be thought of as first cousins, or even siblings. But they’re not twins, and the North … Read more

Every now and then a city or county wants to serve beer and wine, or maybe even mixed drinks, at an official event. It might be a retirement party in the council chambers or perhaps a reception for a new … Read more

For those of us who work with local taxes, the most important news out of the General Assembly this summer was what didn’t happen. The legislature did not create any major new property tax exemptions.  The long-awaited overhaul of the registered … Read more

During the 2012 Session, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted significant legislation that completely reorganized and updated the state’s emergency management statutes, extended the legal length of law enforcement and emergency management vehicles, and created the criminal offense of terrorism.  … Read more

UPDATE OCTOBER 2015: During the most recent legislative session, the General Assembly enacted S.L. 2015-109, which removed the sunset provision and thereby made the prohibition on the contingent fee audit contracts described below permanent. In 1993, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that … Read more

The county board of commissioners is holding a public hearing on a controversial rezoning. The hearing has been going on for an hour and there are many interested citizens waiting to speak. The board chair knows the agenda for the … Read more

In North Carolina, public mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse services are provided through local government agencies called area authorities (also called “local management entities” or “LMEs”). Each board of county commissioners, either singly or jointly with other boards … Read more

UPDATE: In March 2013, North Carolina enacted legislation declining Medicaid expansion and directing state agencies and institutions not to participate in the implementation of a health benefits exchange in North Carolina. See S.L. 2013-5, summarized here.  Readers of this blog … Read more

In 2011, the legislature substantially revised the annexation laws. Among other changes, the 2011 annexation reform law, summarized here, gave property owners in the annexed area the ability to petition to deny the annexation. These changes applied to annexations in … Read more

UPDATE September 2013:  H 1075 was not enacted but the guardianship provisions discussed above were transferred to S 191, which was enacted as S.L. 2012-151. If a court or jury finds that a person is incapacitated, the Clerk of Superior … Read more