UPDATE November 2013: Congress did not enact the bill to create the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, discussed in this post.  For the time being there does not appear to be any substantial federal impetus that would force units of … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: In 2013 the General Assembly repealed the statutory allocations of lottery proceeds and corporate income tax proceeds to the Public School Building Capital Fund. The effectively means that funding for the PSBCF will be subject to yearly … Read more

In most legislative sessions the alcoholic beverage control laws do not get much attention. Yes, there are the usual local acts disguised as statewide bills so they can expand ABC permits to more areas ― like the act allowing permits … Read more

Have you heard of U.S. Communities?  What about National IPA?  Or HGAC?  WSCA?  TCPN?  NJPA? This alphabet soup of organizations (and others like them) can provide North Carolina local governments with purchasing flexibility and efficiency through an exception to the … Read more

Following the 2010 session of the North Carolina General Assembly, local governments will see an essentially unchanged statutory landscape for community and economic development. Some of the highlights are discussed below.

Which of these three scenarios are violations of both the N.C. Rules of Professional Conduct and constitutional due process requirements? 1.  Attorneys Smith and Williams are both partners in ABC Firm, which has over 50 attorneys.  Smith is retained by … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: A summary of the Attorney General’s opinion about these legislative changes can be found here. The final hours of the 2010 legislative session produced agreement on changes to the personnel privacy statutes for most public agencies. Prompted … Read more

Fred is an accounts payable clerk for a North Carolina city.  He learns that some of his fellow employees, including his supervisor, are cheating the city and the taxpayers.  Fred brings this matter to the attention of the city manager.  … Read more

Your local government has just received single-prime bids on the construction of a new civic center.  After evaluating the bids you’ve received, you determine that Crafty Contractor Construction Company (“Crafty”) is the apparent lowest responsive, responsible bidder.  Crafty identified four … Read more

Eddie Haskell, a Maycomb town council member, dropped in on town manager Paul Proteus. After chatting a bit, he ventures “Quick question for you, Paul. I vaguely recollect that when we adopted the downtown revitalization plan last year, the council … Read more

The Tarheel County Health Department is planning to open a clinic to provide basic dental services for county residents who are uninsured. The health director would like to contract with a dentist to provide these services at the health department … Read more

Several governing board officials, impressed by Team USA’s recent performance during the group stage at the World Cup, suggest that the unit should capitalize on the wave of soccer-fever sweeping the nation as a means to promote economic development in … Read more

[Update:  The ban on internet sweepstakes became law when Gov. Perdue signed H.B. 80 on July 20. The ban was upheld by the N.C. Supreme Court in late 2012.  See this blog post for more details. ] The General Assembly moved … Read more

A lot of information about public employees is confidential. It’s well known, however, that what public employees get paid is public. So does that mean that their time sheets are public records? This post addresses the question of whether time … Read more

UPDATE September 2013:  The 2013 law that revises the zoning board of adjustment statutes (S.L. 2013 – 126) affects appeals of certificate of appropriateness decisions of historic preservation commissions. Section 1 of the act adds G.S. 160A-388(b1)(9) to provide that … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: In 2012 the General Assembly imposed additional accountability requirements on nonprofit corporations that receive over $5000 of public funds within a fiscal year from grants, loans, or in-kind contributions. Click here to learn more about the requirements. … Read more

Have you ever had questions about which property disposal method local governments can use to sell a piece of government-owned land?  Or have you wondered what steps are required to sell property by upset bid?  Or have you wondered how … Read more

Paul Proteus, the town manager of Maycomb, leaned back in his chair with a deep sigh. It was a quiet Friday afternoon. All of the week’s crises had passed. The parks staff and chamber of commerce folks just reported that … Read more

Despite rumors to the contrary, tax collectors are human. Sometimes they make mistakes. Can those mistakes ever bind the taxing unit and eliminate a tax obligation?

Responding to requests for public information is an important and time-consuming aspect of the jobs of many local government officials and employees. While some requests are straight-forward, others require analysis and interpretation of the public records law, including its many … Read more