State Ethics and Lobbying Laws – When Do They Apply to Local Government Lobbying?

Two related chapters in the North Carolina General Statutes govern the spending of money to influence state officials.  The State Government Ethics Act (G.S. Chapter 138A) sets ethical standards for the state officials themselves, and the lobbying laws (G.S. Chapter 120C) govern interactions between these officials and those who seek to influence their decision-making – in short, lobbying.

Increasingly, cities and counties in North Carolina spend public money (see this recent post and this one), and even hire lobbyists, to influence officials in the executive and legislative branches of state government.  This post explains how the Ethics Act and lobbying laws apply to those efforts. Read more »

Disconnecting Utility Services for Non-Utility Fee (and Tax) Delinquencies

BlueSky Town resident, Dell Linquent, has fallen on tough times. She lost her job several months ago and is having trouble keeping up with all her bills. Dell owes $44 in annual licensing fees to BlueSky for her two dogs. She owes $130 in property taxes on her car to Carolina County and a $5 motor vehicle license tax to the town. Until a few months ago Dell ran a small landscaping business on the side. She had to close down the business because she was not able to pay her vendors. She also failed to pay her annual privilege license tax of $100. The town recently imposed a special assessment on Dell’s residential property to finance a sidewalk installation in her neighborhood. The total amount of the assessment is $1000, which Dell may pay over a period of five years at 8 percent interest per year. Dell has missed her first installment payment of $216. Adding insult to injury (or injury to insult) Dell recently sustained injuries in a car accident that required her to be transported by ambulance to a local hospital. She owes $75 in fees to the town’s rescue squad to cover the emergency services. Just about the only payment Dell is current on is her water bill because she does not want to risk having the water shut off.

The skies are not all blue for the town either. It faces its own economic difficulties. Growth has been stagnant for several years, thwarting new revenue generation. Additionally collections of outstanding taxes and fees owed to the town are at a record low. At a recent board meeting, the town council directed the town manager to recover any and all revenue owed to the town by any legal means. The manager comes up with a brilliant idea to increase revenue collections. She instructs Utility Jones to disconnect water service to any of the town’s water customer who currently owe any outstanding fees or taxes to the town. Utility Jones is not quite as sure about the brilliance of the manager’s plan but does as instructed. Dell Linquent is among the customers whose water is disconnected. As Utility Jones might have predicted, Dell shows up the following morning and is livid. She claims that the town illegally shut off her water service because she is current on her water bill, and she threatens to sue the town and Utility Jones if the water is not reconnected immediately. What should Utility Jones do? Read more »

Subdivision Ordinances: What’s Regulated, What’s Not

One of my colleagues once said that the law of land subdivision control had to be one of the most obscure and arcane areas of the law that one could imagine. After initially taking offense (since I took some proprietary pride in my knowledge of this subject), it occurred to me that what was needed was for someone to shine some light into this dark corner of the law. One of the more technical (but important) topics is the scope of coverage of local government subdivision ordinances. This blog is devoted to the definition of “subdivision” for regulatory purposes. In May a follow-up blog will be devoted to the exceptions to this definition, as set forth in North Carolina’s land subdivision control enabling statutes. Read more »

The Whole Enchilada: NC Court of Appeals Rules on Access Requirements Under the Open Meetings Law

The March, 2010 meetings of the Wake County School Board attracted lots of interest and overflow crowds. Two meetings occurred on March 23.  The first was a “Committee of the Whole” (COW) meeting, held in a small meeting room in which there was, at times, seating only for the board members and staff. The second was a full board meeting in a larger room that quickly reached capacity. The board made arrangements for audiovisual feeds in overflow space, but some people were unable to get into the main meeting room. Some of these individuals sued the school board alleging that their inability to obtain access violated the state’s open meetings law.  The trial court dismissed the lawsuit and yesterday a unanimous three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling in Garlock v. Wake County Board of Education.

The case is important because it provides new explanations about the access requirements under the open meetings law, especially in situations involving big crowds of people.  The core holdings are: 1) The test for compliance with the open meetings law is not whether any person was denied access, but is instead, whether reasonable measures were taken to provide access. 2) The law requires a public body to provide advance notice of its plan to use a ticketing process for admission to an official meeting. 3) The law does not require a public body to move a meeting to a different building, even if a larger space is available, but may require moving a meeting to a different room in the same building if a larger one is available. 4) The availability of media coverage of a meeting does not, by itself, satisfy the public body’s obligation to provide access to the meeting. 5) The open meetings law does not require special accommodations for individuals with disabilities or special needs, although other laws may. These holdings are summarized below. Read more »

Local Tax Legislation Round-Up

Just like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get from the General Assembly.  The current legislative session is only a couple of months old and already we’ve gotten booze-filled chocolates, an official herring festival, and maybe even our very own North Carolina currency. (In the spirit of bi-partisanship, I’m pulling for a silver dollar with Dean Smith on one side and Coach K on the other.)

But it hasn’t been all coins, candy, and Clupeidae down in Raleigh. The Honorables have made a few changes to local tax laws and proposed a bunch more.  Here’s a quick round-up of the major legislative action concerning local taxes to date. Read more »

Rejecting Bids – Who Can and When Can They?

Pauline Purchaser has advertised a contract and is pleased by the number of bids she’s received.  When she opens the bids, much to her dismay, she discovers that all are way over budget.  As Pauline regroups to figure out what went wrong, she realizes there was a flaw in the specifications.  She decides to reject all bids, rewrite the specs, and start over.   It won’t take long – the flaw in the specs is easy to fix – so she can proceed quickly and keep the project on track.  As Pauline reports her plan to her manager, he says, “Wait! Don’t we have to take all this to the board?”  Do they? Read more »

Can a City Really Zone Land Outside the City?

Frank Graham inherited a 600-acre wooded tract located about a half mile outside a small town in rural North Carolina. With the economy turning around he is considering moving forward with development of the tract. He has been thinking a residential subdivision and shopping center would fit nicely on this tract. He thinks a portion of the land might also be great for some industrial development or maybe even a mobile home park. Frank remembered seeing something in the papers about the county adopting zoning a few years ago. So before setting off on this project, he thinks it would be prudent to run his ideas by his cousin Eddie Graham, who is the long-term county manager for the county where this property is located.

Frank drops by Eddie’s office. After exchanging pleasantries and catching up about their mutual relatives, Frank briefly sketches out his thoughts about development of his tract. “Well,” Eddie says, “sounds like you have some good ideas. A good starting point even if a bit controversial. But I’m afraid I can’t be of much help. You need to go see the folks at town hall. City zoning applies out there.”

Frank is confused. “Eddie, I don’t follow all this government stuff the way you do, but I’m pretty sure this land is still out in the county. The town may be growing out that way, but I think I’d remember if it had been annexed. I’m pretty sure I don’t pay city taxes on that land. Are you sure about city zoning?”

“It’s outside the city,” Eddie explains, “but it has been subject to city planning and zoning a long time. They got ETJ at least a decade ago.” “

“And what, pray tell, is ETJ?” Frank asks. Read more »