UPDATE 2013: This blog has been updated to reflect legislative changes made in S.L. 2013-413. Many local governments across the state provide some form of solid waste services for their citizens. Under the public enterprise statutes, counties and municipalities have largely coextensive authority to provide both collection and disposal services, although counties typically support landfills or other disposal facilities, whereas municipalities usually provide the collection services.

In my last post, I talked about the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy. We now rejoin our friends in Emerald City, where the City … Read more

UPDATE November 2013: The 2013 General Assembly amended the early voting statutes to eliminate same-day registration and voting and to shorten the early voting period by one week. UPDATE February 2017:  In July 2016 the federal Fourth Circuit Court of … Read more

What’s the only type of property that can change from real property to personal property and back again in the blink of an eye? The answer is mobile homes, the species of property that produces more headaches per tax dollar than … Read more

What’s the only type of property that can change from real property to personal property and back again in the blink of an eye? The answer is mobile homes, the species of property that produces more headaches per tax dollar than any other. 

What’s the only type of property that can change from real property to personal property and back again in the blink of an eye? The answer is mobile homes, the species of property that produces more headaches per tax dollar than any other. 

In this post about access to emails, I described three categories of public employee emails: 1)emails that are public records and subject to public access; 2) emails that are public records but an exception either prohibits disclosure or eliminates the right … Read more

In a recent post about access to emails, I described three categories of public employee emails: 1)emails that are public records and subject to public access; 2) emails that are public records but an exception either prohibits disclosure or eliminates the right of public access; and 3) emails that are private (do not relate to the transaction of public business), and therefore are not subject to public access at all.

In a recent post about access to emails, I described three categories of public employee emails: 1)emails that are public records and subject to public access; 2) emails that are public records but an exception either prohibits disclosure or eliminates the right of public access; and 3) emails that are private (do not relate to the transaction of public business), and therefore are not subject to public access at all.

Your governing board recently instructed you to look at any and all means to cut costs. In reviewing ways to streamline administrative expenses you discover that the unit can reduce its utility fee collection costs significantly by printing and mailing … Read more