Yesterday, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that it was a matter of when, not if, the new coronavirus would begin to affect communities here in the United States. “It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more of a question of exactly when this will happen,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a news briefing.

It’s bad enough that employment laws have such confusing acronyms – FLSA, FMLA, ADEA, ADA – but why do they have to use different terms for the same thing? Don’t “serious health condition” and “disability” refer to the same thing? As it turns out, they do not. While both a serious health condition and a disability have the potential to interfere with an employee’s attendance and job performance, they are different concepts and the existence of each has very different consequences for both employers and employees.
Background

It’s bad enough that employment laws have such confusing acronyms – FLSA, FMLA, ADEA, ADA – but why do they have to use different terms for the same thing? Don’t “serious health condition” and “disability” refer to the same thing? As it turns out, they do not. While both a serious health condition and a disability have the potential to interfere with an employee’s attendance and job performance, they are different concepts and the existence of each has very different consequences for both employers and employees.
Background

The national Main Street Program touts “coordinated, small-scale facade improvements” in rural downtown commercial districts as having the “power to not only preserve valuable historic resources in rural communities, but also to spur economic growth in the surrounding area.” What local government tools are available and appropriate for encouraging private owners to make facad

The national Main Street Program touts “coordinated, small-scale facade improvements” in rural downtown commercial districts as having the “power to not only preserve valuable historic resources in rural communities, but also to spur economic growth in the surrounding area.” What local government tools are available and appropriate for encouraging private owners to make facad

Consider this scenario: Carolina County conducts a reappraisal in 2018 in which Tommy TarHeel’s house is appraised at $300,000.  Tommy pays his 2018 and 2019 tax bills at that appraisal value without complaint. But in 2020 Tommy learns that back in late 2017 his neighbor sold an identical house for $250,000.  Tommy decides to appeal his 2020 appraisal. Assuming that the Carolina County assessor agrees with Tommy that the county used the wrong comps and appraised Tommy’s house at too high a value in 2018, may the county lower Tommy’s appraisal for 2020 and future years?

Consider this scenario: Carolina County conducts a reappraisal in 2018 in which Tommy TarHeel’s house is appraised at $300,000.  Tommy pays his 2018 and 2019 tax bills at that appraisal value without complaint. But in 2020 Tommy learns that back in late 2017 his neighbor sold an identical house for $250,000.  Tommy decides to appeal his 2020 appraisal. Assuming that the Carolina County assessor agrees with Tommy that the county used the wrong comps and appraised Tommy’s house at too high a value in 2018, may the county lower Tommy’s appraisal for 2020 and future years?

What is the impact of a property tax appellate decision on tax years following the one under appeal?  That’s the dispute at issue in a recent N.C. Court of Appeals decision that required Graham County to return $45,000 in post-appeal taxes.  This blog discusses the details of the case, Miller v. Graham County, and the lessons to be learned from it.
The Facts

What is the impact of a property tax appellate decision on tax years following the one under appeal?  That’s the dispute at issue in a recent N.C. Court of Appeals decision that required Graham County to return $45,000 in post-appeal taxes.  This blog discusses the details of the case, Miller v. Graham County, and the lessons to be learned from it.
The Facts

On Tuesday, September 25, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor released the final rule raising the minimum salary an employee must make to be exempt from overtime and, as a result, making more salaried employee eligible for overtime compensation. The rule may be found here. The changes to the rule closely track the proposed rule published last March. The most significant change is, as expected, an increase in the amount an employee must earn to qualify for exempt status.