North Carolina property tax law, nicknamed the Machinery Act, contains many dozens of full or partial exemptions for property as diverse as free drug samples, uranium 233, and Loyal Order of the Moose clubhouses.
This blog post attempts to identify which of these property tax breaks that might be relevant to a local government’s community and economic development plans. Before we get to that list, I first offer some context and general observations about North Carolina’s property tax system.
Uniformity
North Carolina property tax law, nicknamed the Machinery Act, contains many dozens of full or partial exemptions for property as diverse as free drug samples, uranium 233, and Loyal Order of the Moose clubhouses.
This blog post attempts to identify which of these property tax breaks that might be relevant to a local government’s community and economic development plans. Before we get to that list, I first offer some context and general observations about North Carolina’s property tax system.
Uniformity
North Carolina property tax law, nicknamed the Machinery Act, contains many dozens of full or partial exemptions for property as diverse as free drug samples, uranium 233, and Loyal Order of the Moose clubhouses.
This blog post attempts to identify which of these property tax breaks that might be relevant to a local government’s community and economic development plans. Before we get to that list, I first offer some context and general observations about North Carolina’s property tax system.
Uniformity
Nearly 200 North Carolina counties and municipalities levy occupancy taxes. Almost all of them are required to use some percentage of their occupancy tax revenues for “tourism-related” expenditures. Last week our state courts issued their first appellate opinion examining exactly what types of expenditures qualify as “tourism related.”
The Local Government Commission (LGC) is a nine-member state body situated in the Department of State Treasurer. G.S. Ch. 159, Art. 2. The commission monitors the fiscal management and financial condition of local governments and public authorities (providing assistance and engaging in more active interventions when needed), and approves the issuance of debt and certain other borrowings by local units.
After an approximately four-year tenure, the town manager files a confidential report claiming a hostile work environment. The town manager’s attorney negotiates a settlement agreement in which the town manager agrees to resign and not bring future legal claims against the town in exchange for a financial payment from the town. The manager signs the settlement agreement. The agreement is subsequently approved by a majority of the town council. Immediately after the council vote, though, three council members who voted for the settlement agreement resign.
Supervising the Tax Office
Blog Post
The Machinery Act makes it clear that the “governing board” (aka the board of county commissioners or the city council) has the sole authority to appoint and remove both assessors and tax collectors. GS 105-294 and -349. But the statutes are silent as to the regular supervision of local tax officials. To whom may assessors and collectors be required to report on a regular basis?
How to Resolve Taxpayer Listing Mistakes
Blog Post
Imagine that the Wonka Chocolate Factory is the largest employer in your county. They list substantial amounts of business personal property (“BPP”) for taxation every year. In January 2023, Wonka lists BPP totaling $65,000,000, which is roughly $25,000,000 more than the average value of their BPP in the past few years. In August 2023, the county sends a BPP bill to Wonka based on the $65M valuation. In November 2023, Wonka contacts the county tax office and explains that their accounting office made a major mistake on their BPP listing and inflated the value by a substantial amount. A
Headline: City finance employee embezzles public money. While the facts may differ, the story underlying this all-too-common headline is usually one in which a trusted employee slowly pockets money by writing checks or electronically transferring funds to a personal bank account until the fraud is eventually uncovered. How did this happen? Citizens want to know. They look to the governing board for answers—we elected you and entrusted you to protect us.
As discussed in previous posts, the system development fee (SDF) law, G.S. Ch. 162A, Art. 8, allows a local government utility provider to assess certain costs of developing and maintaining its water and/or wastewater systems on new development that benefits from those systems.