Filling a Vacancy on the Town Council

Judy Bailey was not just a member of the town council. She was well-known in town for her dog training business and often entertained at local events with her troupe of trained poodles. So it was no surprise when she – literally – ran off and joined the circus. Once the excitement settled down, questions arose about how to fill the vacancy on the town council. State law clearly provides that the city council is responsible for filling vacancies. But the timing and method are not spelled out.  This blog post provides answers to the following questions, which often arise when a vacancy occurs: 1) Must the council fill the vacancy (and if so, how long do they have to do it), or can they decide to allow the vacancy to remain until the next election? 2) Does the law require the council to use any particular process to select the person to fill the vacancy? 3) Are records relating to applicants or nominees to fill the vacancy subject to public access? 4) May the council meet in closed session to discuss candidates under consideration to fill the vacancy? 5) Must the council vote “yes” or “no” for each candidate, or can they vote from a slate of candidates? 6) If there are two votes for one candidate and two for another, can the mayor break the tie? 7) Is an appointment to fill a vacancy for the remainder of the term or only until the next election? Read more »

The Developing Law of Academic Freedom in Public Colleges and Universities

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court clamped down on public employee free speech.  But its decision, strangely, may have opened the door to greater legal protection for teaching and research by members of the faculties of public colleges and universities.

Greater legal protection?  Haven’t college faculty members enjoyed greater legal protection in what they had to say—in the name of academic freedom—than other public employees?  Not like you might think, and not like most college faculty members have always thought. Read more »

Using Social Security Numbers for Local Tax Administration

Continuing with the theme of Kara Millonzi’s post last week on the use of Social Security numbers by local governments for utility services, this post focuses on how Social Security numbers can be used by local governments for the administration of taxes.

Social Security numbers are immensely helpful with all types of local taxes, be they property taxes, occupancy taxes, or privilege license taxes.  The numbers can help verify a taxpayer’s income eligibility for property tax exclusions, facilitate the attachment of bank accounts and the garnishment of wages, and allow for the set-off of state income tax refunds. 

Knowing this, tax collectors request Social Security numbers from taxpayers at various steps in the taxation process.  Applicants for property tax exclusions are almost always required to provide their Social Security numbers. The same request is sometimes made of applicants for business privilege license taxes and of taxpayers seeking extended payment plans. Tax collectors also routinely obtain Social Security numbers from other local departments and governments as well as from public record search firms such as LexisNexis’ Accurint.   

Are these efforts legal? If so, what can local governments do with Social Security numbers if they get them? Read more »

The 2011-2012 Session Begins: A Refresher on the UNC School of Government’s Legislative Resources

This post is co-authored with Christine Wunsche, the Director of the School of Government’s Legislative Reporting Service and Editor of the Daily Bulletin

As today marks the opening day of the 150th session of the General Assembly, we wanted to remind our readers about some of the resources available from the UNC School of Government (SOG) to help you keep track of legislative developments. Below is a brief description of three SOG publications: the Daily Bulletin, the Weekly Status Report, and the Index of Legislation. We also offer a few tips for tracking legislation using the General Assembly’s new and improved website. Read more »

Limitations on the Collection and Use of Social Security Numbers by Local Government Utilities

Back in 2008, the local government water utility adopted an Identity Theft Prevention (ITP) program to comply with the federal Red Flags Rule. Still awaiting final word from the Federal Trade Commission on whether or not the Red Flags Rule applies to local government utilities, Utility Jones has decided (with the consent of the utility’s governing board) to continue to implement the ITP program. Among other things, the program requires that utility employees verify the identity of any person that seeks to open a utility account by viewing two forms of identification—including at least one government-issued picture identification card. The program also requires that utility employees collect a prospective customer’s Social Security number (SSN). The utility uses the SSNs to conduct credit checks. The credit checks serve two purposes. The first is to provide an additional means to verify the identity of the person seeking to open the account. The second is to determine whether or not to require a deposit. (The utility only requires a deposit if a prospective customer’s credit score from one of the three consumer credit reporting agencies is below a certain threshold level.) The utility records the SSNs and also uses them to aid in collecting delinquent accounts. Specifically, it submits the SSNs of delinquent customers, along with other pertinent information, to the State’s set-off debt collection program to recover past due utility bills.

A new customer, Cautious Clay, attempts to establish a new account for water service. Conscientious employee that he is, Utility Jones follows the ITP program’s procedures to the letter and verbally requests that Ms. Clay produce the two forms of identification and her SSN. Ms. Clay agrees to show Utility Jones the appropriate identification, but she balks at having to give her SSN. Utility Jones informs Ms. Clay that she cannot open a utility account without providing her SSN. Ms. Clay, calmly yet firmly, informs Utility Jones that it is a violation of her federal rights to be made to produce her SSN. She claims that the utility’s ITP program is illegal and requests that she be allowed to open the account without disclosing the number. What should Utility Jones do? Read more »

Snakes with Too Much for Dinner: Conforming to the Transportation Plan

UPDATE September 2013:  The North Carolina Department of Transportation has adopted rules and policies concerning the size, location, direction of traffic flow, and the construction of driveway connections into State Highway System roads.  In exercising this authority under G.S. 136-18(29), NCDOT  may require the construction and public dedication of acceleration lanes, deceleration lanes, traffic storage lanes,  and medians as they connect with any United States route, North Carolina route, or any secondary road route with an average daily traffic volume of at least 4,000 vehicles per day. These requirements, however, must be adequately linked to the traffic generated by the development served by the driveway.

Session Law 2013 – 245 (H 785) allows NCDOT to establish a statewide pilot program for sharing the costs of “oversized” transportation improvements in connection with driveway permits that should not legally be assigned to a single driveway permit applicant.  The department is authorized to develop a formula for apportioning costs on a project-by-project basis among NCDOT and private property developers.  A developer is not required to participate in the program in order to obtain any necessary driveway permit. This authority should enable NCDOT to “iron out” the irregular right-of-way and travel way widths on key state roads and highways. 

“You know Pleasant Avenue, over on the west side of town. Our transportation plan shows it as a four-lane arterial street with a median. But most of it is just two lanes wide, except in front of the school and that stretch along the shopping plaza. That road tapers down to two lanes and then bulges back out to four. It’s just like a snake that has had too much for dinner. And not all of that land along Pleasant is developed. We ought to get developers to improve roads like that along their frontage. I mean, that’s what the transportation plan calls for.” Read more »

Selling Seized Property

In the course of his law enforcement duties, Police Officer Steve Spielburger has seized a shark’s tooth, a bullwhip, and a bicycle.  While investigating a theft, he also recovered an unusually large egg that no one has claimed.  What should the Police Department do with all of this?  They’ll need to follow the procedures found in Article 2 of Chapter 15 of the North Carolina General Statutes, which are explained below. Read more »