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 an advertising process when they have in fact already decided who they want to hire? Here’s the short answer. If the employer is covered by the State Personnel Act (the “SPA,” Chapter 126 of the North Carolina General Statutes), then it must advertise position openings before making a hiring decision.

[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
The post Ethics and Employee Email appeared first on Coates’ Canons NC Local Government Law.

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

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 Sheriff Taylor promptly deposits these funds into a bank account that he has opened at the Bank of Mayberry. The bank account is in the name of the sheriff’s office, and the sheriff and his deputy, Barney Fife, are the only individuals authorized to deposit or withdraw funds from the account.

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 Sheriff Taylor promptly deposits these funds into a bank account that he has opened at the Bank of Mayberry. The bank account is in the name of the sheriff’s office, and the sheriff and his deputy, Barney Fife, are the only individuals authorized to deposit or withdraw funds from the account.

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
The post What Didn’t Happen appeared first on Coates’ Canons NC Local Government Law.

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

In 1993, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that it did not violate public policy for a county to enter into a contingent fee contract with a private audit firm to assist the county tax assessor in discovering certain personal property subject to taxation. See In the Matter of The Appeal of Philip Morris U.S.A., 335 N.C. 227, 436 S.E.2d 828 (1993). (Under the terms of the contract, the county paid the audit firm 35 percent of the taxes owed on property the audit firm discovered, including any penalties.

In 1993, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that it did not violate public policy for a county to enter into a contingent fee contract with a private audit firm to assist the county tax assessor in discovering certain personal property subject to taxation. See In the Matter of The Appeal of Philip Morris U.S.A., 335 N.C. 227, 436 S.E.2d 828 (1993). (Under the terms of the contract, the county paid the audit firm 35 percent of the taxes owed on property the audit firm discovered, including any penalties.

The housing market in some areas of the state may be improving, but a new study by the N.C. Department of Revenue suggests that real estate values remain generally sluggish across the state. The Department of Revenue’s annual sales assessment … Read more