It’s February, which means that tax lien advertising season is right around the corner. Early this month tax collectors must report to their governing boards the delinquent taxes that are liens on real property. Governing boards then issue orders to advertise … Read more
My blog from December 15 of last year (“Preoccupied with Occupancy Certificates: Part I”) was intended to provide an introduction to the use of a certificates of occupancy (CO) by local inspections agencies to ensure that a development project is … Read more
North Carolina has a proud 30-year history of almost continuous litigation over legislative and congressional redistricting, described here. The lawsuits for our new decade have started and previous roles have been reversed. Republicans used to complain about maps drawn by … Read more
UPDATE DECEMBER 2015: During the 2015 legislative session, the General Assembly made changes to local sales and use tax allocations. The effective date of the changes is July 1, 2016. For more information on those changes, click here. Note that … Read more
We say it until we’re blue in the face: municipal and county governing board members have a duty to vote. There is no authority to abstain, or to be excused for a mere “appearance of impropriety.” Instead, state law is … Read more
Harry Potter and those Twilight vampires need to move over and make room for a new literary superhero. The mighty local government tax collector returns to the best seller lists this week after a fourteen-year absence with the release of … Read more
The recession that began in 2008 hit the real estate market particularly hard. Many projects that had been approved lost their funding or had little market for the housing, offices, and shops that would have been built. One response to … Read more
Before the 1960s North Carolina had a hodgepodge of local courts below the state superior court. In one place or another there were general county and city courts, county criminal courts, domestic relations courts, juvenile courts and recorders courts. Some … Read more
Prudence serves as a finance officer for a North Carolina county. As a condition of her initial (and continued) employment Prudence is required to obtain and maintain a “true accounting and faithful performance bond” with coverage of up to $50,000. … Read more
Sometimes there just aren’t enough board members to have a meeting. Suppose that a clerk for a North Carolina city or county learns in advance of a meeting that several governing board members have conflicts and will not be able … Read more
Don’t you just love the holiday season? We kick it off with a Thanksgiving feast, exchange presents on Hanukah and Christmas, and then celebrate a fresh start on New Year’s Day. But the fun doesn’t end just because we’ve all … Read more
Most North Carolinians understand that when we mark our ballots for Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or George Bush or Barack Obama for President, we are not in fact voting for those candidates. We are, instead, voting for a small … Read more
The city manager of Tooltime, North Carolina, picks up the phone and calls Tim Taylor, the city’s minimum housing public officer and lead housing inspector. “Tim, I understand why you suspended all periodic inspections in Tooltime that did not comply … Read more
My current preoccupation (a temporary one, I hope) is certificates of occupancy. I don’t mean those permissions necessary to occupy public property in the Raleigh, New York, or Washington demonstrations that have been in the news. No, I mean those … Read more
The Village of Paved Paradise is located on the North Carolina coast. It is a small municipality with a vibrant downtown. Because of its size and location, parking in the downtown area is scarce. There is a strict two-hour limit … Read more
Just over a month remains before interest will begin accruing on unpaid property taxes levied for the 2011-12 fiscal year. On January 6, 2012, these taxes will become delinquent and begin accruing interest at the rate of 2% for January … Read more
Which of the following revenues belong to a county’s local school administrative unit(s)? 1. A city imposes a $50 civil penalty on a citizen for violating the city’s noise ordinance. (The ordinance specifies that each violation is subject to a … Read more
North Carolina’s open meetings law creates a broad public right of access to meetings of public bodies by requiring notice of most kinds of meetings, and allowing anyone to attend them. Do those who attend have a guaranteed right to … Read more
“Don’t make retroactive changes to property tax values.” As general rules go, that’s a pretty good one for county assessors to follow. Absent unusual circumstances, any changes to property tax values should apply to the current tax year and not … Read more